PROJECTS IN AREA 3.1.5 ARE INVITED . PROPOSALS FOR SUPPORTING B-TYPE PROJECTS ARE ALSO INVITED AND CANDIDATE RESEARCH THEMES INCLUDE :
- HIGHER LEVEL IMPLEMENTATION LANGUAGES FOR KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION AND INFERENCE
- ADAPTATION OF FORMALISMS FOR REAL-WORLD KNOWLEDGE TO PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION LANGUAGES FOR KBS
- LANGUAGES AND ENVIRONMENTS FOR CONCURRENT PROCESSING AND FOR THE INTEGRATION OF FORMAL , STRUCTURED " SOFTWARE ENGINEERING " WITH KBS REQUIREMENTS .
NOTE THAT PROPOSALS RELATED TO THIS AREA ARE ALSO INVITED IN AREAS AND .
3.1.6 . INTERPRETERS TO SUPPORT HIGH-LEVEL KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION FORMALISMS ( TYPE A )
THE OBJECTIVE IS THE RATIONALISATION AND RE-IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF INTERPRETERS ( COMPILERS ) FOR THE VARIOUS KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATIONS AND MANIPULATION METHODS DEVELOPED FROM AD-HOC IMPLEMENTATIONS IN AREAS 3.1.1 AND 3.1.3 . THIS PROJECT AREA WILL NOT COMMENCE BEFORE 1986 .
3.1.7 . KBS AND THEIR METRICATION ( TYPE A )
THE OBJECTIVE IS AN ON-GOING PROGRAMME , OVER AT LEAST 5 YEARS , OF CONSTRUCTION OF DEMONSTRATOR KBS APPLICATIONS , USING STATE-OF-ART FACILITIES ( HARDWARE , SOFTWARE AND LARGE DATABASES ) AVAILABLE AT THE TIME , SO AS TO MAINTAIN AN UP-TO-DATE POOL OF EXPERTISE ON KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING SKILLS AND ON CLASSIFICATION OF DOMAIN CHARACTERISTICS AGAINST AVAILABLE TOOLS AND METHODS . IT WILL BE A VEHICLE FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE TOOLS AND METHODS USED FOR PROCESS ANALYSIS , KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION AND MANIPULATION , INFERENCE AND PROCESSING , PROBLEM SOLVING PARADIGMS AND HUMAN FACTORS/MMI .
THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT COVERS THE FIRST PHASE OF THE ON-GOING DEMONSTRATOR PROGRAMME , WITH A SWITCH OVER OF RESOURCES FROM THE FIFTH YEAR INTO PROJECT 3.1.8 FOR THE SECOND PHASE OF THE DEMONSTRATOR PROGRAMME .
SINCE THE TOOLS AND METHODS VARY FOR DOMAIN CLASSES SHOWING MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN CHARACTER , DEMONSTRATORS SHOULD INCLUDE WIDELY VARIED EXAMPLES IN FIELDS OF CREATIVE DESIGN , PRODUCTION CONTROL , DIAGNOSIS , SYSTEMS MODELLING , SIGNAL PROCESSING , DECISION MAKING AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING . AS SUCH , THIS PROGRAMME WILL BE A CRUCIAL SOURCE OF EDUCATION , AND OF DIRECTION FOR ON-GOING/FUTURE RESEARCH PROGRAMMES , AND OF EXPERIENCE FOR MAKING MARKETABLE KBS APPLICATIONS .
ALMOST NOTHING IS KNOWN ABOUT THE PRACTICE OF KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING AS A HUMAN SKILL , OR ABOUT KBS PERFORMANCE , EVALUATION , MEASUREMENT AND ACCEPTABILITY IN TERMS OF CLIENT PRODUCTIVITY . IT IS NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY THOSE METRICS WHICH ARE OF SIGNIFICANCE AND TO ESTABLISH METHODS AND TOOLS FOR THEIR MEASUREMENT - QUALITY OF KNOWLEDGE IS CRUCIAL BUT DIFFICULT TO METRICATE . THIS WORK MUST ALSO CREATE A " TOOLS AND METHODS " KIT FOR KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERS TO SIZE KBS APPLICATIONS IN TERMS OF CONSTRUCTION AND CLIENT USAGE RESOURCES , AND IN TERMS OF THE MOST APPROPRIATE SYSTEM COMPONENTS . IT IS IMPORTANT TO COORDINATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLKITS AND TO ENSURE THE DISTRIBUTION OF TOOLS WITHIN ESPRIT , BUT ALSO TO BE AWARE OF THE DANGERS OF TOO-EARLY STANDARDIZATION .
THE METRICATION PART OF THIS PROJECT CANNOT BE OVERSTRESSED : FOR INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL