Nabil R' Adam Rutgers University CIMIC Center for Information Management, Integration, and Connectiv

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Nabil R. Adam Rutgers UniversityCIMIC (Center
for Information Management, Integration, and
Connectivity)
NSF Digital Government Program

• DEEDS
• Workshop
• The Impact of Public Information on Enterprise,
  Government, Research
• in the Enlarged European Knowledge-based Economy
•  
• October 21, 2003
• Bologna (Italy)

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Outline

• NSF Digital Government Program
• Objective
• Background
• Sample NSF Projects
• Ongoing Projects at CIMIC Case Studies
• E-government human-centered business services
  NSF
• US Customs and Border Control NSF
• Spatially Integrated Coastal Permitting System
  NOAA
• USEPA Drinking Water Security US EPA
  (Environmental Protection Agency)

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NSF Digital Government Program - Objectives

• Partnering leading-edge computer scientists with
  forward-thinking government agencies and the
  private sector
• Explore and develop new information technologies
  that will improve the way government serves the
  public.
• Funding for a a broad array of research
• Funding can serve as the foundation for expanded
  studies under additional government funding.

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NSF Digital Government Program - Background

• Goal
• to build a research domain of problems that
  intersect traditional NSF Computer/Information
  Science research communities and experimental
  deployment needs of the Federal information
  service communities.
• Supports
• Research projects that innovatively, effectively,
  and broadly address
• potential improvement of an agency,
• Interagency interactions,
• intergovernmental operations and/or
• government/citizen interaction

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NSF Digital Government Funded Sample Projects

• Digital Government Transnational Digital
  Government (PI Jose Fortes, University of
  Florida, Award Period 2002-05-15 to 2005-03-31,
  Amount 1,500,000.00)
• A Distributed Information Management Framework
  (REGNET) for Environmental Laws and
  Regulations(PI Kincho Law , Stanford University,
  Award Period 2000-09-01 to 2004-08-31, Amount
  1,000,000.00 )
• Digital Government Geospatial Data Mining
  Techniques for a Multimedia Integrated Modeling
  System (PI Hassan Karimi , Microelectronics
  Center of North Carolina, Award Period
  1999-08-01 to 2001-07-31, Amount 39,943.00 )
• Database Middleware for Distributed Ontologiesin
  State and Federal Family Social
  Services(PIAhmed Elmagarmid, Athman
  BouguettayaVirginia Tech Purdue University,
  Award Period 2000-06-01 to 2004-05-31,Amount
  499,998.00 )

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Digital Government Transnational Digital
Government

• Objective
• The domain is drug interdiction, Under an arm of
  the Organization of American States (OAS) - the
  Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission.
• Member states of OAS collect, share and analyze
  information in standard ways.
• Team
• The US research team Organization of American
  States, North Carolina State University, Carnegie
  Mellon University, University of Colorado,
  University of Florida, University of
  Massachusetts
• Researchers from universities in Belize, Mexico,
  and the Dominican Republic.

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Digital Government Transnational Digital
Government

• Research Impact in the areas of
• spoken dialogue systems,
• data management and security for rule-based data
  sharing and filtering,
• information retrieval and machine translation,
• middleware to support these transnational
  information grids, and
• network behavior modeling for acceptable quality
  of service.
• Impact for EU
• Data management and secure interoperability
  across multiple governments

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A Distributed Information Management Framework
(REGNET) for Environmental Laws and Regulations

• Objective
• The Regnet Project will develop a formal,
  practical infrastructure to enhance access to
  government regulations
• The infrastructure includes distributed data
  repositories, to create tools to locate, merge,
  compare, and analyze the information.
• Team
• Involvement of experts in law, computer science,
  and civil/environmental engineering.

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A Distributed Information Management Framework
(REGNET) for Environmental Laws and Regulations

• Research Impact
• textual storage,
• semi-structured indexed storage,
• means to resolve semantic ambiguities,
• cross-referencing appropriate for automated
  access from relevant legal documents, and
• on-line compliance checking of government
  regulations.
• Impact for EU
• Enhancing access to government regulations for
  use by citizens and entrepreneurs

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Digital Government Geospatial Data Mining
Techniques for a Multimedia Integrated Modeling
System

• Objective
• to model the transportation and ultimate effect
  of nutrients and chemicals.
• Team
• Microelectronics Center of North Carolina
• EPA would be the primary partner agency
• US Geological Survey,
• The Neuse River basin watershed in North Carolina
  

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Digital Government Geospatial Data Mining
Techniques for a Multimedia Integrated Modeling
System

• Research Impact Planning grant
• Geospatial data mining,
• Searching,
• Extraction techniques for integrated air, water
  and land environmental modeling activities in a
  distributed environment.
• Impact for EU
• Exploring the implementation of Geospatial
  analysis and Geospatial data mining for
  management of resources such as watersheds and
  transportation networks.

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Database Middleware for Distributed Ontologies in
State and Federal Family Social Services

• Objective
• A Web service management system for government
  Web services
• An infrastructure for uniform, secure, and
  privacy preserving access to government Web
  services
• Help case officers and needy citizens collect
  social and welfare benefits to which they are
  entitled
• Team
• Indiana Family and Social Services
  Administration,
• The Indiana Dept. of Workforce Development,
• The US Dept. of Health and Human Services.

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Database Middleware for Distributed Ontologies in
State and Federal Family Social Services

• Research Impact
• query infrastructure,
• middleware for the web,
• dynamic inter-ontology support
• Impact for EU
• Secure access to web services in Government
  Public health systems
• Web service management system for Multi-
  government web services

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Case Study I, CIMIC - Rutgers E-government
human-centered business services
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The Context (1)

• The State of New Jersey -- CIO/OIT
• Vision
• Provide the citizen of the state with first-rate
  service delivered with a state-of-the-art
  technology in the most intuitive, user-friendly,
  and efficient manner
• Specific Objectives
• Seamless delivery of on-line services
• Government-to-Citizen (G-C)
• Government-to-Business (G-B)
• Government-to-Government (G-G)
• Government-to-Employee (G-E)
• The NJ State Strong commitment for e-government
  development and interest (from top to bottom)
• Just started a centralized Office of e-Government
  within Office of Information Technology (OIT)
• Willing to allocate enough resources

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The Context (2)

• Rutgers CIMIC
• works together hand in hand as one team with the
  OIT to to help contribute to CIO/OIT vision
• focuses on the research and long-term aspects of
  some of the issues
• leverages its working relationship with relevant
  research communities around the globe
• develops a proof of concept and evaluation
  studies
• explore means of transferring some aspects of
  the proof of concept to the State

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E-government Project

• Our joint project on this initiative was
  eventually funded by NSF ( 1M, 2000-2003)
• The Team
• Rutgers Cimic
• NJ State Government
• Columbia
• UMBC
• CUNY
• Small Business Development Center

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Initial FocusBusiness-Related Services

• Business Entrepreneurs
• Opening a new business, reporting, closing,
• Guide entrepreneurs through the process
• generate the exact tasks required for the
  specific business, and the sequence in which they
  need to be executed, and by which agency
  (workflow)
• make the entire process transparent to the user
• provide monitoring of the status
• protect the security and privacy of user
  information

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Research Building blocks

• Risk Assessment
• Web-based GIS Service
• to locate a business site and
• provide location-related information (zoning
  regulation, contamination, transportation,
  traffic, etc
• Universal Access
• Make MM information available to anyone anywhere,
  at anytime
• Automatic Service Identification, Composition
  Delivery
• Ontology
• provide a foundation of terms and mappings
  between equivalent terms used by different state
  agencies
• Workflow System
• Automatically Determining necessary Steps and
  identifying forms customized for each
  entrepreneur
• Decentralized workflow execution
• Flexible level of agency participation
• Negotiations -- E-negotiation

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Risk Assessment

• Choosing a Business Location
• Are there any competing businesses close to my
  location?
• Is the site strategically located to reach my
  customer base?
• Clients, employees demographic data, housing
  availability
• What is the infrastructure transportation,
  parking space
• Future expansion possibility, Crime statistics,
  traffic patterns.
• Zoning Regulations.
• Universal Access

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Universal Access(1)

• Users
• Various capabilities
• Physical
• Technical
• Linguistic
• Domain expertise
• Various Characteristics
• Mobility
• Different interests and preferences/profiles
• Use different information appliances (HW/SW)
• e.g., PC, Work station, PDA, TV, Cell phone,
  Pager, etc.
• Security credentials
• Objects
• Multimedia, e.g., audio, video, images, text,
  electric, magnetic, thermal
• Complex multi-components with a variety of
  relationships among components -- relationships
  represent different types of constraints --
  Constraints (specified by author of the object

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Universal Access(2)

• Constraints
• Synchronization
• Map A and Video B appear simultaneously
• Spatial Constraints
• Image I is above Text T
• Modality Constraints
• Video B needs a player to be rendered
• Fidelity Constraints
• Map A must be displayed at a resolution of at
  least 800600
• Security Constraints
• Sales representative audio and video are accessed
  by subscribers only.

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Universal Access Challenge

• Need to facilitate access to desired data of
  multimedia, composite objects according to the
  various users
• Capabilities
• Characteristics
• While at the same time satisfying the objects
  constraints (Synchronization, security, etc.)
  constraints
• UA Objective is to cross these barriers and
  enhance communications across disciplines,
  languages, cultures -- Make it available to
  anyone anywhere, at anytime.

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Automatic Service Identification, Composition
Delivery

• Ontology
• Build knowledge base
• Workflow System
• Utilize Knowledge base for workflow generation
• Execute workflow

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Business Rules
Hidden in WebPages, forms, instructions, manuals,
etc
Applicants who are registering as Sole
Proprietors or Partnerships must file pages
15-17 of the NJ-REG.
If a business requires spray painting more than
1/2 gallon in an hour, it requires air quality
permit and DMV permit.
If there is a hire of more than 1 employee, it
requires to obtain employer insurance.
Please note that the Public Records Filing (pages
21 and 22)may be submitted prior to the
completion of pages 15-17 of the NJ-REG to
establish the Business Entity,but the remainder
of NJ-REG (pages 15-17)must be submitted within
60 days of filing the new business entity.
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Workflow Systems

• Automatic Generation of Customized inter-agency
  Workflow
• Ad-hoc/dynamic service composition for different
  individualized customer situations
• Identify required services
• in accordance to regulations
• user preferences/profile
• Glue them according to regulations and other
  constraints

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Our Approach Automatic Workflow Composition

• Capture workflow concepts embedded in Regulations
• Services, conditions, ordering steps
• Using hierarchical knowledge structure (ontology
  concepts relations)
• Automatically constructed from text documents
• Automatically generate a customized workflow

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Customized Workflow generation
Advantages

• Direct the user to the correct agencies forms
  and existing online services
• Find the correct order
• Customization on each specific business
• Transparent to the entrepreneur
• Easy to understand

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Workflow Systems

• Decentralized Workflow Execution
• Integrate the different systems, while preserving
  existing online services and autonomous systems
• Build on existing online services
• preserve the autonomy of each agency
• Provide data sharing with Automatic submission of
  information to the relevant agency in the right
  order
• Flexible level of agency participation
• Customize solutions to fit agencys service
  environment
• Monitoring the complete process

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Data Sharing

• Fill in Data and Send data to the agency
• How to avoid redundant insertion of the same data
  in different forms or online services?
• Help the user with automatically filling existing
  online service forms and pdf forms
• Interactive PDF Forms
• FDF Data
• Save time
• Error-checking
• Built on the existing systems
• Allow to automatically extract data from forms

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System Evaluation

• Phase I - Pilot evaluation
• System Revision Current prototype
• Subjects Volunteers from NJ SBDC Workshops
• Instruments On-line survey completed after first
  business is created on-line
• Phase II Continuous Evaluation/Feedback
• System Revision Based on feedback from Phase I
• Subjects Anyone visiting the demo page
• Instruments On-line survey completed after first
  business is created on-line

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System Evaluation Cont.

• Phase III Formal Controlled Experiments
• System Revision Same as Phase II
• Subjects MBA Entrepreneurship students from
  Rutgers and Baruch
• Instruments
• Controlled lab experiment subjects given a
  specific task (types of bus. to open)
• Pre-task questionnaire to determine familiarity
  with opening a bus. and internet/web
• Post-task questionnaire to gauge system
  effectiveness

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Strategies (1)

• Approach to the right level of people in the
  hierarchy at the right time
• Steering Committee Blessing of the high level
  officials
• Planning, directions and decision making
• Judith Teller (CIO) (Wendy Rayner, former CIO),
  Adel Ebeid (CTO), Odysseus Marcopolus (Director,
  EGOV)
• Focus working groups from different agencies for
  technical and development discussions
• Sue Colbert (EGOV, manager), Lydia Quill, Lynn
  Raleigh, Chris Foley (OIT), (Div )
• Jim Froucio, Jane Coult (Div. Revenue)
• Nat Bender (Small Business Development Center)
• (Dept of Commerce)
• (Dept of Environmental Protection)
• (Department of Labor) (D of Community ..)

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Strategies (2)

• Delicate balance between research and development
• Respect division of labor not stepping into each
  others territory
• Research team research agenda and develop a
  prototype as proof of research concepts
• The State maintain their development efforts
• adopt features of prototype for existing systems
• Expand and adjust for full-blown system

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Strategies (3)

• Progress Presentations
• The State
• Monthly business portal meeting among coalition
  group
• Consolidating web pages and databases from
  different agencies
• reducing data redundancy and enhancing data
  interoperability
• Research Team
• Presentations of research results to the
  committees
• Prototype demos feedback from the State
• Discussion on the technical findings and
  transport requirement issues

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Strategies (4)

• How we made them buy into our concepts
• Our system architecture is sensitive to
• Different computing and business process
  environment of each agency
• Agency specific technical and resource
  limitations
• Each agency culture and structure
• Dynamism among different agencies
• Our model does not force to conform but considers
  the realities
• Use existing systems and build upon them
• Lend itself to changes in the existing agencies

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Case Study II, CIMIC Rutgers US Customs and
border Control
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Secure Agency Interoperation for Effective Data
Mining in Border Control andHomeland Security
Applications

• Objectives
• Smart Borders
• Data gathered by US Customs can be mined for
  security enhancements -- detect anomalous
  behavior that raise red flags
• Enhance security aspect of the Automated
  Commercial Environment (ACE) system
• Spatial and geographical visualization of
  information can help Customs inspectors make
  better decisions
• Award Period 06-01-2003 05-30-2007
• Amount 1,050,000,

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TEAM

• Researchers (partial)
• Rutgers, IT and Political Science
• Columbia University
• Univ. of Illinois
• SAP Corporate Research
• NJ Office of Information Technology
• Office Of Homeland Security
• Domain Experts
• Office of Homeland Security, White House
• Council on Foreign Relations
• Border Research Technology Center, NIJ
• U.S. Department of Justice
• INS, Newark
• U.S. Customs Service

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Secure Agency Interoperation for Effective Data
Mining in Border Control andHomeland Security
Applications

• The Research Impact
• Devises solutions to accomplish secure
  interoperation among different government
  agencies.
• Advances the fundamental research in the areas of
  semantic interoperability, data mining and
  security enforcement
• Partnership with industry(SAP- the prime
  contractor for eCustoms Partnership) providing
  the opportunity to directly influence the
  practical needs of US Customs.
• Generalizable development work

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ACE and ITDSMulti-Agency Information Sharing
and Targeting System
ACE/ITDS Creating New Information Flows
Ref.Source http//www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/abo
ut/modernization/
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Secure Agency Interoperation for Effective Data
Mining in Border Control andHomeland Security
Applications

• Impact for EU
• Inter-government and inter-agency data sharing
  using semantic interoperable and secure
  interfaces
• Secure Multi-domain and incremental data Mining
  and knowledge discovery for use of various
  government agencies, supplementing decision
  support systems
• Spatial data mining for providing mined knowledge
  and enhanced visualization for front line
  officers and staff
• Providing secure and user friendly interfaces for
  entrepreneurs and citizens based on knowledge
  derived from distributed sources

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Case Study III, CIMIC Rutgers Spatially
Integrated COastal Permitting System
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SICOP

• Objective
• Develop a coastal permit processing system an
  electronic consultant.
• Provide a single effective electronic interface
  for the government agencies and citizens.
• Deliver smoother and customizable services.
• Award Period Aug. 2002 Aug. 2003
• Amount 97,000

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SICOP

• Team
• CIMIC RUTGERS
• National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration
• Meadowlands Environment Research Institute.
• New Jersey Meadowlands Commission
• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
• U.S Army Corps of Engineers

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SICOP

• Impact
• Simplifies the lengthy and complex process of
  compliance requirement identification.
• Profile Creation and Collection of individual
  development preference
• Automated generation and visual representation of
  the steps required.
• Auto Data completion and relevant Forms fill
  up.

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SICOP

• Impact for EU
• Inter Agency interoperability across multiple
  governments,
• Seamless data transfer and process simplification

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SICOP
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Case Study II, CIMIC Rutgers USEPA Drinking
Water Security
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USEPA Drinking Water Security

• Objective
• Real-Time Monitoring, Modeling Environmental
  System
• Focusing on drinking water supply and
  distribution safety and security

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Regional Drinking Water Safety Security
Consortium (RDWSSC)

• U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
• State of New Jersey Department of Environmental
  Protection
• U. S. Geological Survey
• American Water Works Service Company, Inc.
• North Jersey District Water Supply Commission
• Passaic Valley Water Commission
• Rutgers CIMIC

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USEPA Drinking Water Security

• Research Impact
• With advanced biochemical sensors, predictive
  modeling tools and information infrastructure
• Provide decision makers and the public timely
  assessments
• Ensure the safety and security of EPA-R2 water
  supply for future generations

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Impact for EU

• Water Monitoring with enhanced data management
  and analysis
• Issuing timely and accurate alarms for
  contamination, ensuring the safety and security
  of resources
• Timely assessments for involved agencies