A framework for model integration and holistic modelling of socio-technical systems

This paper presents a layered framework for the purposes of integrating different Socio-Technical Systems (STS) models and perspectives into a whole-of-systems model. Holistic modelling plays a critical role in the engineering of STS due to the interplay between social and technical elements within these systems and resulting emergent behaviour. The framework decomposes STS models into components, where each component is either a static object, dynamic object or behavioural object. Based on existing literature, a classification of the different elements that make up STS, whether it be a social, technical or a natural environment element, is developed; each object can in turn be classified according to the STS elements it represents. Using the proposed framework, it is possible to systematically decompose models to an extent such that points of interface can be identified and the contextual factors required in transforming the component of one model to interface into another is obtained. Using an airport inbound passenger facilitation process as a case study socio-technical system, three different models are analysed: a Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) model, Hybrid Queue-based Bayesian Network (HQBN) model and an Agent Based Model (ABM). It is found that the framework enables the modeller to identify non-trivial interface points such as between the spatial interactions of an ABM and the causal reasoning of a HQBN, and between the process activity representation of a BPMN and simulated behavioural performance in a HQBN. Such a framework is a necessary enabler in order to integrate different modelling approaches in understanding and managing STS.

A Likelihood-Maximizing Framework for Enhanced In-Car Speech Recognition Based on Speech Dialog System Interaction

Speech recognition in car environments has been identified as a valuable means for reducing driver distraction when operating noncritical in-car systems. Under such conditions, however, speech recognition accuracy degrades significantly, and techniques such as speech enhancement are required to improve these accuracies. Likelihood-maximizing (LIMA) frameworks optimize speech enhancement algorithms based on recognized state sequences rather than traditional signal-level criteria such as maximizing signal-to-noise ratio. LIMA frameworks typically require calibration utterances to generate optimized enhancement parameters that are used for all subsequent utterances. Under such a scheme, suboptimal recognition performance occurs in noise conditions that are significantly different from that present during the calibration session – a serious problem in rapidly changing noise environments out on the open road. In this chapter, we propose a dialog-based design that allows regular optimization iterations in order to track the ever-changing noise conditions. Experiments using Mel-filterbank noise subtraction (MFNS) are performed to determine the optimization requirements for vehicular environments and show that minimal optimization is required to improve speech recognition, avoid over-optimization, and ultimately assist with semireal-time operation. It is also shown that the proposed design is able to provide improved recognition performance over frameworks incorporating a calibration session only.

A framework for sustainable energy reduction in modern breweries

This thesis examines the existing frameworks for energy management in the brewing industry and details the design, development and implementation of a new framework at a modern brewery. The aim of the research was to develop an energy management framework to identify opportunities in a systematic manner using Systems Engineering concepts and principles. This work led to a Sustainable Energy Management Framework, SEMF. Using the SEMF approach, one of Australia's largest breweries has achieved number 1 ranking in the world for water use for the production of beer and has also improved KPI's and sustained the energy management improvements that have been implemented during the past 15 years. The framework can be adapted to other manufacturing industries in the Australian context and is considered to be a new concept and a potentially important tool for energy management.

Creating a legal framework for copyright management of open access within the Australian academic and research sector

This chapter analyses the copyright law framework needed to ensure open access to outputs of the Australian academic and research sector such as journal articles and theses. It overviews the new knowledge landscape, the principles of copyright law, the concept of open access to knowledge, the recently developed open content models of copyright licensing and the challenges faced in providing greater access to knowledge and research outputs.

Reframe QUT's evaluation framework : a case study of planning, policy and positioning leading to educational best practice

Every university in Australia has a set of policies that guide the institution in its educational practices, however, the policies are often developed in isolation to each other. Now imagine a space where policies are evidence-based, refined annually, cohesively interrelated, and meet stakeholders’ needs. Is this happenstance or the result of good planning? Culturally, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a risk-averse institution that takes pride in its financial solvency and is always keen to know “how are we going?” With a twenty-year history of annual reporting that assures the quality of course performance through multiple lines of evidence, QUT’s Learning and Teaching Unit went one step further and strategically aligned a suite of policies that take into consideration the needs of their stakeholders, collaborate with other areas across the institution and use multiple lines of evidence to inform curriculum decision-making. In QUT’s experience, strategic planning can lead to policy that is designed to meet stakeholders’ needs, not manage them; where decision-making is supported by evidence, not rhetoric; where all feedback is incorporated, not ignored; and where policies are cohesively interrelated, not isolated. While many may call this ‘policy nirvana’, QUT has positioned itself to demonstrate good educational practice through Reframe, its evaluation framework. In this case, best practice was achieved through the application of a theory of change and a design-led logic model that allows for transition to other institutions with different cultural specificity. The evaluation approach follows Seldin’s (2003) notion to offer depth and breadth to the evaluation framework along with Berk’s (2005) concept of multiple lines of evidence. In summary, this paper offers university executives, academics, planning and quality staff an opportunity to understand the critical steps that lead to strategic planning and design of evidence-based educational policy that positions a university for best practice in learning and teaching.