Early requirements engineering for public private partnerships: Aligning agents’ mental models

Developing decision support systems is a complex process. It involves stakeholders with diverging interpretations of the task and domain. In this paper, we propose to use ontology mapping to make a detailed analysis of the overlaps and differences between mental models of stakeholders. The technique is applied to an extensive case study about EU customs regulations. Companies which can demonstrate to be in ‘control’ of the safety and security in the supply chain, may become ‘Authorized Economic Operator’ (AEO), and avoid inspections by customs. We focus on a decision support tool, AEO Digiscan, developed to assist companies with an AEO self-assessment. We compared the mental models of customs officials, with mental models of the developers of the tool. The results highlight important differences in the interpretation of the new regulations, which will lead to adaptations of the tool.