We present a specification approach of secured systems as transition systems and security policies as constraints that guard the transitions. In this context, security properties are expressed as invariants. Then we propose an abduction algorithm to generate possible security policies for a given transition-based system. Because abduction is guided by invariants, the generated security policies...

A conceptual framework and a system model for an intelligent assistant for requirement defition, KB/RMS, is presented. The requirement definition process is characterkd by the Requirements Context Model. Informal and formal methods for requirement defiition are considered in light of this model, which serves as the logical schema for the KB/RMS database. Conventional and knowledge-based system ...

Context-aware application and services proposing potentially useful information to users are more and more widespread; however, their actual usefulness is often limited by the “syntactical” notion of context they adopt. The recently started AMBIT project aims to provide a general software architecture for developing semantic-based context-aware tools in a number of vertical case study applicati...

An important challenge within the field of Criminology is to investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics of crime. Typical questions in this area are how the behaviour of offenders, targets, and guardians, and the emergence and displacement of criminal hot spots can be predicted. This paper presents an agent-based simulation model that can be used as an experimental tool to address such questions....

This is a progress report on applying formal methods in the context of building an automated diagnosis and recovery system for Autosub 6000, an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The diagnosis task involves building abstract models of the control system of the AUV. The diagnosis engine is based on Livingstone 2, a model-based diagnoser originally built for aerospace applications. Large parts ...

This paper presents a general discussion of the role of formal methods in Knowledge Engineering. We give an historical account of the development of the eld of Knowledge Engineering towards the use of formal methods. Subsequently, we discuss the pro's and cons of formal methods. We do this by summarising the proclaimed advantages, and by arguing against some of the commonly heard objections aga...

We report about experiences with component-based development supported by formal techniques at Philips Healthcare. The formal Analytical Software Design (ASD) approach of the company Verum has been incorporated into the industrial workflow. The commercial tool ASD:Suite supports both compositional verification and code generation for control components. For other components test-driven developm...

Matobo district is renowned for a lot of rituals and taboos due to its association with the Njelele “sacred” shrine, which for a long time housed u Ngwali, the Ndebele spirit medium. Although the district lies within agro-ecological four which is characterised by erratic rainfall, the presence of wellmanaged wetlands has saved the local communities from the debilitating effects of droughts. The...

The work presented in this paper deals with the integration of domain ontologies in Knowledge Based Systems (KBS). We claim that, for using an ontology in a KBS, it must be operationalized, that is transcribed in an operational knowledge representation language, according to a precise scenario of use. The use of an operational ontology of geometry led us to propose a formal method to operationa...

In this paper, we propose an integral software process model which is applicable in the construction of the conventional systems and knowledge-based systems (KBS), centered in the capacities. The designed model is prescriptive, that is indicates "what is done" to produce and maintain an automated solution to a problem of the real world and "who's who", the person doing it. The Capacities-Center...