© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reservedFor Internal MITRE Use

Information Architecture as a Decision-Support Tool

Dr. M. A. Malloy

mmalloy@mitre.org

17 November 2009

© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

Disclaimers

All information presented here is UNCLASSIFIED, technically accurate, contains no critical military technology and is not subject to export controls.

The views, opinions, and conclusions expressed here are those of the presenter and should not be construed as an official position of MITRE or the United States Department of Defense (DoD).

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© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

Overview

What’s a decision-support tool?

What’s an information architecture framework (IAF)?

How can information architectures support the decision-maker?– Examples

Take-aways

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© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

Decision-Support Tool purposes **

To check that “everything is OK” To confirm the “obvious” To compare “actual performance” against formal

or informal goals or constraints To identify what is “out-of-the-ordinary” To find a small, significant piece of information To figure out how something “works” To “work around” normal channels To do side-by-side comparisons of like items, quantities, etc. To compare the same type of information for discovering

trends and relationships [e.g., in different time periods] To convey information in a more digestible manner To support “what-if” analysis or forecasting To create a “report of record” To help advocate a position

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** http://www.umsl.edu/~subramaniana/DSS_tools.html

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© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

We manage information because…

We can

Someone tells us we have to

It’s a valuable corporate asset

It supports decision-making

All of the above

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CLAIM: Information architecture enables decision-makers to answer the question:

Are we managing the right, high-quality, actionable, timely information we need to make our key decisions?

© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

What is enterprise architecture (EA)?

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** DoD Architecture Framework Version 1.5, Volume I: Definitions and Guidelines, 23 April 2007

“enterprise”

any organization or group of organizations that has a common set of goals or principles or a single bottom line

“architecture”

the structure of components, their relationships to each other and to the environment, and the principles guiding the design and evolution of the entity they describe,** whether that entity is an organization, a system, or a functional or mission area

© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

Relevance of “information” in EA

Derived from various business needs Influenced by / influences governance, activities,

technology, services Must be managed throughout its lifecycle

Business Needs

Business Activities

Technology

Services

Information

GovernanceOrganizationalDirectives

TechnologyView

ServiceView

InformationView

BusinessView

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What should the information view include? Activities/processes that produce and consume information

Structure of and relationships among the information– Conceptual & logical data models of the enterprise (i.e.,

information requirements)– Ontologies, taxonomies, vocabularies; metadata, schemas– Authoritative data sources; access control rules

Information infrastructure (IT)– Data storage; data transport; data services– Information assurance– Standards and standard products

Implementation strategy and guidance– Information management policy & Guidance– Ways and means for creating the above descriptions

Governance, roles & responsibilities, data engineering, configuration management, verification & validation (V&V), authoritative data sources

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“Framework” helps organize & relate information architecture products

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architecture

product

Info Architecture Framework

The Enterprise

Stakeholders

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High-level view of the Information Architecture Framework (IAF)

Information Asset Description

Information Asset Context

Information Asset Sharing

Information Architecture Components

Info

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Info

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Drivers

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Input

Establish

Uses

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ImpactsTechnology

Busines

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Services

Info

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Information asseta resource having value that is both owned and managed

© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

Inter-view relationships

Information – Business– How do information assets relate to business activities? e.g,

Asset to process cross reference

Information – Service– How do information assets relate to service offerings? e.g.,

Asset to service cross reference. Service-level Agreement (SLA) Template

Information – Technology– How do information asset considerations impact technical

realization? e.g., Definition of a mediation view between physical store and services Security characteristics selection criteria

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© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

Example: Are we managing the right assets?

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Information Asset Description

Information Asset Context

Information Asset Sharing

Information Architecture Components

Info

rmat

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Ass

et P

rin

cip

les

Info

rmat

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Ass

et P

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Info

rmat

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Ass

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and

Input

Establish

Uses

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ImpactsTechnology

Busines

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Services

Info

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Business RulesMIL-STDs

VocabularyToolset

iSMART

JMSWGMTFWG

COINCDS

JALN,Platforms

ICD

JCIDS

GAPs,CBA

GCIC/RI

NCES

Caps & Lims Toolset

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Example: Can we answer our key questions?

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Triple Stores

Browser Gruff

RDF/XML

Top Braid ComposerTM

Ontology

Query SPARQL

AllegroGraph

Database & Application Framework

LispJAVA

Answering other questions

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(Semi-) automate population of triple store from existing metadata sources– Use IAF as the basis for

defining mappings

Use built-in visualization, query, analytical tools to realize added value

Earmark categories of architecture products needed to answer specific types of questions

Triple Stores

Browser Gruff

RDF/XML

Top Braid ComposerTM

Ontology

QuerySPARQL

AllegroGraph

Database & Application Framework

LispJAVA

This approach is currently being explored via use cases.

© 2006 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

Summary

An architecture framework approach supports– Distributed, incremental development by multiple stakeholders– Recognizing “patterns” across similar organizations

A database application framework approach– Supports discovery of unanticipated answers and value

IAF supports managing information assets from an enterprise perspective– Are we managing the right information to answer key

questions?

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Questions