Research Project FUSION

Business process fusion based on Semantically-enabled Business Applications

SMEs cooperating with international partners in the enlarged Europe need holistic Enterprise Applications Integration (EAI) solutions in order to operate their e-business effectively. At the same time they are facing intercultural barriers, since current interoperability and integration efforts are more focused on "data" of the systems rather than on "processes".

Objectives

The FUSION project aims at the efficient business collaboration and interconnection between enterprises. The objective is to develop a framework and innovative technologies for the semantic fusion of businesses applications that exist within several collaborating companies. Furthermore FUSION takes into consideration the intercultural and regulatory aspects of the enlarged European countries. Thus the FUSION project will have a three-fold focus that will be achieved through the following research and innovation related activities:

• FUSION aims at the development of an innovative approach, methodology and integration mechanism for the semantic integration of a heterogeneous set of business applications (ERP and CRM applications from different technology providers), platforms and languages within SMEs.
• FUSION aims at the integration of research activities carried out in the Enlarged Europe in the areas of Business Process Management, Semantic Web and Web Services.
• FUSION aims at the validation of research results by developing proof-of-concept pilots in collaborative commerce across semantically-enriched supply chains and value networks across the Enlarged Europe. In particular, the FUSION approach, methodology and integration mechanism will facilitate three trans-national cases, each of which has operations spanning the enlarged European countries.

Project impact

FUSION project homepage

www.fusionweb.org

Contact for this project

Spiros Alexakis

Enterprise Application Integration has been for years a major information technology concern for companies and organizations as well as the public sector worldwide. Recent studies estimate that up to 30% of future IT investments will be on systems integration efforts. This is because mergers require the integration of software infrastructure. New solutions like CRM and Business Intelligence need to cooperate with existing solutions, and different vendor products are necessary to be compatible. An innovative project like FUSION will therefore promote and contribute to the European integration process. FUSION will develop a generic approach, methodology and technological tools for the semantic integration of service-oriented business applications and prove the applicability of the above by addressing the semantic integration of heterogeneous business applications (ERP and CRM).

© CAS Software AG