The Symantic Web: Using Web Services to join distributed, non-standard systems - Essay Example

Topic: The Symantic Web: Using Web Services to join distributed, non-standard systems Brief: For this assignment you will submit an individual, fully referenced research paper in which you demonstrate your case for support for the topic that you selected for the first assignment above. The paper will embody your critical evaluation of that topic, its alternatives and your overall recommendations to business decision-makers or where future research should be directed. This assignment covers these Learning Objectives (LO). LO1. Appreciate the architectures and underlying principles of Web-based Systems LO2. Evaluate the current technologies involved in the delivery of Web-based Systems LO3. Assess new and evolving technologies that could impact on Web-based Systems LO4. Develop ways of assessing issues which are critical to the success of Web-based Systems LO5. Make informed recommendations on the appropriate web technologies for a given current or future business context. The Scenario The healthcare community is making increased use of electronic information systems to store and share the medical records of Patients. Community Doctors are therefore able to manage their patients records more easily within each individual healthcare practice. However, practices often install information systems that are disparate and which do not conform to common standards in terms of database design and data mark-up. Problems they face. . Patient medical records may be lost. Patient medical records may be duplicated. A Patient may receive treatment at a location remote from the repository where their medical records are held. How can Electronic Patient health Records (EPR) be managed and shared between practices? The assignment subject: Using Web Services to join these distributed, non-standard, Electronic Patient Record Systems. Study Areas: HTTP, RDF, XML, WSDL, UDDI, Semantic Web (Agents, OWL, Topic maps), SOAP The following will discuss the benefits and advantages of using Web-based system services to join distributed yet non-standard systems to achieve more effectively delivered services. Including in the discussions and analysis will be arguments about the most suitable Web systems to use to achieve the best results. In particular this study will focus on how Electronic Patient Record Systems (EPR) can be effectively shared between differing practices and hospitals within a given network of healthcare service providers. Any EPR can have problems in terms of duplicated, disjointed or missing information as can any other similar network yet can compensate by providing the potential for more effective medical treatment. Methods of eliminating or reducing these potential or actual problems will be put forward and evaluated. The aim of this study is to propose theoretical, technological and even practical solutions to the problems associated with Web-based systems that can be or are used to make the services delivered by EPRs more effective. The problems that may arise from the use of non-standard equipment and packages and solutions to them will also be discussed. The findings outlined below should also reflect learning outcomes achieved as a result of taking this course. The crux of this work is suggesting which package or combination of packages offers the most effective and fastest system of information retrieval for fully operative EPRs whilst reducing all problems to a minimum. Quick and accurate information from EPR is vital for saving lives and avoiding legal complications. The development of Web-based systems has coincided with the development of the worldwide web following in the wake of advances in information technology in recent decades. Those developments have certainly allowed for a greater expansion of the information that is not only available but also needed by private businesses, government departments and the providers of public health, social and education services. The ever expanding size of the world-wide web has allowed shops, businesses and hospitals or medical practices etc to be linked together on a local, regional, national and even a global scale. The expansion of the worldwide web has also coincided with dramatic technological advances that increase the ability of organisations to gather information whilst raising the expectations of faster, better and more efficient service provision. The adoption of the world-world web has been assisted by the almost universal adoption of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol often referred to by the acronyms HTTP or www. Or alternatively the same functions can be carried out via XML. The world-wide web functions primarily because each and every computer linked to others via the internet or intranet can communicate and interact with other computers by means of their own distinctive web address or Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Computer databases predate the worldwide web yet have needed its existence to develop and extend further in their use (Crystal, 2003, p. 1010). Web-based systems are generally made up of a single or many Local Area Networks (LAN). A LAN is a network of at least two linked computers and can range in size from a handful of computers in a single office or single medical practice through to thousands of computers used by a multinational corporation or government department. Businesses that only need to run a small LAN are probably less concerned about the storing of data and really fast communication between all parts of the network than larger organisations are (Burrows, 1999, p.183). The adoption of LAN’s and Web-based system can be seen as both contributing towards and as a consequence of the globalisation process. Whilst medical practices did not have to adopt computers or Web-based system most have to drive forward improvements in the level of care provided towards patients. These medical practices have frequently joined together in small groups to make the most effective use of the resources available to them. Globalisation has increased innovation, competition and standards within the private sector so it is not surprising that it has done the same in the public sector. Pushing up the standard of services can only be a beneficial phenomenon especially if it can keep people healthier and alive for longer (Shaw and Ivens, 2002, p.18). Whatever people use the Internet for they rely on or expect their computers to be able to link up to fast and accurate information retrieval. Information retrieval relies on links and drivers such as XML and Resource Description Network (RDF). RDF offers the valuable ability to index all items that are included within all linked databases or the Web-based systems. Without such software it would be more difficult to download or upload information on the Internet or for LANs and Web-based systems to of much effective use. The common feature between XML, RDF and similar protocols is that they convert or interpret files into formats that can be used by all the computers in a network and for communication with other networks. Convertibility of information and computer languages is as important as speed and accuracy when obtaining information via databases and Web-based systems (Newby, 2002). A Semantic network is a series of inter-linked and connected nodes and arcs. Semantic networks give a framework for the storing and transmission of data or information contained with any computer or network of computers. Protocols such as RDF and XML allow computers to communicate with each other even if they have they have configurations and operating systems whether standard or non-standard in origin. Without them Web-based systems and LAN could not function properly making communication and data transfer more difficult and certainly slower. Semantic networks therefore play a pivotal role in communication between all computers linked to a LAN or a Web-based system. For a Web-based system to be fully operational its semantic network needs to be working properly. Staff will need to be trained to know any new systems that are adopted and spot any actual or potential problems from disrupting or stopping the flow of information. Databases can be set up with all the filters and safeguards available yet still have to rely on people imputing the correct information in the first place (Nolte, 2001, p.262) The larger the Web-based systems become the more they came seem to be developing a life of their own and the harder they can seem to be managed effectively. The event of the worldwide web has brought revolutionary changes to local, national and global communications and has transformed the ability of all organisations both small and large to communicate internally and externally. The Internet saves all such organisations time and money by making the transfer of data and information to internal and external links faster and more effective. The use of emails, attachments and downloads means that vast often complex information can be communicated almost instantly only limited by the availability of digital telephone lines and the speed of computer modems. Emails offer the quick transfer of information and save the cost of sending information through postal or courier services, saving postal charges and paper (Burrows, 1999, p. 126). Emails can be invaluable for rapid information transfer and communication between parts of any network. Organisations can opt for different email systems that can offer various sizes of document attachment and some even offer database facilities of their own. Medical practices would not have to exactly the same email or database systems as long as that does not adversely affect the speed of communication or data transfer. An eye has to be kept out for different versions of the same packages being used as this could slow things down while programmes are updated and some files are inaccessible. Web-based systems can be established from scratch, which usually means that all parts of the network start of with the same computer equipment, databases and operating systems or computer packages such as Microsoft, Apple Macintosh and IBM. More frequently however the members of Web-based systems join the system with a great range of differing legacy equipment, databases and operating systems to merge into a single operative Web-based system. When setting up new systems or networks the administrators or technicians will often have to face the choice of putting up with differences between all members of the network and making it as effective as possible or finding the resources to start up the network from scratch. The world-wide web gives businesses, government departments and public service providers the ability to gather, share and use vast amounts of data with surprising speed when compared to before Web-based systems were adopted although not always smoothly (Nolte, 2001, p. 14). Not all the equipment used within networks that are linked through Web-based systems are compatible which can lead to the lose of vital data or poorer service provision, double handling of work and needless or time wasting duplication of data. As previously mentioned protocols such as XML can solve some of the communication and convertibility issues. However the migration of data will depend on people downloading new packages and setting up the required transfer of data themselves. Some networks have the problem of not having enough memory capacity to store all the data needed and possibly leading to the subsequent of valuable data or the system becomingly increasingly slow. Perhaps the more proactive or far sighted of organisations setting up Web-based systems will aim to install equipment that has greater memory capacity allowing it to contain more data and to be upgraded more easily. Some organisations prefer adaptability and longevity built into their Web-based systems rather than the more expensive option of replacing their equipment and their systems more frequently. The systems used by government departments for instance contain the benefit, pension and health records for millions of people. These records need to be readily accessible and straightforward to use for government workers yet secure against possible fraud or computer hacking. Web-based systems can however be made secure with the use of appropriate measures such as passwords and anti-virus protection. Viruses and worms could potentially cause a great deal of damage in terms of lost data, wasted time and off line unusable equipment. Web-based systems can be prone to viruses as it only needs one computer to get infected and subsequently all the other computers within its network and the whole system could be badly affected (Hosker, 2002, p. 137). As well as looking at the security and the overall reliability of any operating system used by any organisation that wishes or needs to become part of a Web-based system the training and skills of the people that work within the organisation needs to be taken into account. If all the systems and equipment within each organisation that belong to a Web-based system are fully compatible that perceived advantage can be undermined by mistakes made by untrained or careless operators within that system. In a commercial environment incorrect information can lead to lost custom. Within the context of a group of medical practices and hospitals incorrect information can lead to the administration of incorrect treatments or no treatment at all. In the worst case scenarios missing or incorrect data could lead to the worsening illness, mistreatment or death of patients with all the medical and legal consequences that can entail. That is why critical information such as patients’ blood groups, allergies and conditions such as diabetes, angina or high blood pressure need to be available quickly and accurately in an emergency. The more accurate the information available to the doctors means that their diagnosis of patients will be sounder. Every second or minute of time saved can improve the chances of saving a life. In non-emergency situations such speed and accuracy allow a higher standard of patient care to be delivered. People expect faster service provision as a result of the Internet making the provision of services and the delivering of goods that appear quicker than before. The availability of laptops, remote access terminals and wireless technology means that people no longer have to stay in their offices and workplaces. This offers options for organisations and businesses linked to Web-based system. People can carry out their jobs from home or work at any of the offices within their business or organisations. Work can also be carried out whilst people are travelling. In the context of medical practises and hospitals linked via a Web-based system that doctors and paramedics can obtain medical information that could be vital in treating patients and keeping them alive in medical emergencies. However some factors need to be taken into account when doctors or paramedics use laptops to help in their quick and effective treatment of patients. The speed that information is transferred depends on the capabilities of the equipment used and the availability of wireless connections or telephone line connections. Wireless dial up and connection services are presently harder to obtain outside of the United States, yet will surely catch on everywhere else. As the provision and availability of digital dial up increases it will be more attractive to users that need access to information on the move especially if it reduces the need for costly and sometimes rather time consuming replications (Buckley and Clarke, 2003, p. 50). The cost of such extra online connections need to be measured against whether it is a more effective way of treating and saving patients. Medical practices within any LAN or Web-based system should also be aware of the security issues around the use of laptops. Laptops are expensive pieces of equipment that are attractive targets for thieves or than can be lost easily. Doctors and paramedics therefore should be equipped with pagers and mobile phones to ensure that they can be contacted to deal with medical emergencies. The information on laptops can be irreplaceable especially if the user does not replicate data frequently. The use of laptops to find data and add to it can be more effective when the Web-based system incorporates hyperlinks such as the Web-watcher package (Michalskw, Bratko & Kubat, 2002, p.298). To make emails quicker to send and receive data via attachments it is advisable to compress files using appropriate formats such as ZIP. Microsoft based systems for instance would use the WinZip format. The advantage of such compression is that it can reduce the size of attachments by as much as 90 per cent with proportionately less time spent on downloading files and reducing the amount of money added on to medical practice telephone bill. Given that medical practices often have to work within finite budgets any such savings can be put towards providing better medical treatment and services to the patients within the group of medical practices included within any particular Web-based system. Using such compression formats can also reduce the strain on the Web-based system used because it also means that patient details held on databases can be compressed allowing the system to store greater amounts of information. Ideally the retrieval of information from databases needs to be as fast if not faster than using emails. Databases need indexing systems that can quickly trace any individual patient’s record. For accuracy, safety and security it would be best to allow the facility to search for records by surname, date of birth, address and medical records numbers (Burrows, 1999, p. 139). When designing any database or Web-based systems it is common practice to use or develop a semantic network to build data fields or links to other parts of the database. When these data fields are used they can allow the databases adopted to have different entries to obtain all the information that businesses and organisations know they need to operate effectively. Such data entry fields can be used to gather and utilise vital information such as a patient’s name, age, address and their medical history highlighting any conditions that need constant treatment or that doctors need to be aware before providing any treatment. Ideally within each semantic network updates in any single part of the network mean that the entire network will be updated as quickly as the system allows (Jackson, 1999, p. 109). Many businesses and organisations that use databases and are involved in Web-based systems will tend to buy packages rather than build up their own databases and Web-based systems from scratch. Larger organisations are more likely to employ their own technicians to maintain their operating systems and databases whilst smaller ones may have to rely on external technicians to repair or maintain their systems. When businesses and organisations buy in their databases and computer equipment that they might not always pay as much attention to the architecture of the semantic network, database or Web-based systems that they operate with. Packages are usually adaptable so that they can be used to fit the purpose they were intended to fulfil. If an organisation has enough technical expertise within itself or can afford a greater level of expertise it can have semantic networks that will keep duplications and technical glitches to the barest minimum (Jackson, 1999, pp. 30-31). Advances in Information Technology means that businesses, organisations and medical practices can use more powerful, adaptable and user -friendly operating systems and computer packages. These more powerful Web-based system can further increase the information held on databases. There are differing packages that hold larger amounts of data than other databases can or compress it down meaning that there is extra capacity with the same amount of memory available on the Web-based system. There are a wide range of databases and hyperlinks available to be used in Web-based system. Databases include the widely used Microsoft access whilst Excel can be readily adapted to serve such a purpose. Other packages that are used to store information include Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Acrobat is responsible for one of the most useful formats for storing scanned and downloaded documents the Portable Document Format or PDF. If medical practices make full use of all the PDF software from Adobe they may reduce the need to spend extra money on scanning equipment. A drawback with PDF documents is that it can not always be possible to update or edit them. Not all PDF documents contain indexes, which can delay finding relevant information. The avoidance of duplicated records is up to the people updating the records. They can be assisted if Windows based systems come up with error messages about users wishing to replace existing files (Hosker, 2002, p. 135). The Semantic Web can greatly aid research as well as making the Internet and databases more useful for its users whether they are surfing the web during their leisure time or for work purposes. The Semantic Web has allowed software engineers to develop improved design packages that can assist the design of databases. Some of the most useful and successful of such design systems include Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE), Model Driven Architecture (MDA) and Unified Modeling Language or UML. The Semantic Web can be regarded as being split into two different yet linked components. Firstly there are passive parts such as HMTL or XML and more active elements such as the Web system itself. The better the balance between these parts the better the Semantic Web functions (Tetlow, Pan et al 2005). Web-based systems have led to the greater use of virtual screens. Originally developed to allow for online banking and shopping in virtual banks or virtual online stores. This technology has been adapted so that businesses and organisations can use Virtual Team Rooms for the transmission of information between different offices; stores and home based workers internally within any such business or organisation. Virtual rooms or Web-sites could be used by medical practices linked to the same Web-based system to allow their patients to book their own appointments and medical check ups in the same way that they can go online to pay bills or buy CDs or DVDs for instance. Medical practices could also use Web-sites to provide their patients with medical advice online so that they do not have to make appointments for minor ailments such as colds or cuts and bruises. However such Web-sites would have to state that patients should always seek medical attention if they have any doubts about the seriousness of their symptoms. There are medical, ethical and legal implications for not providing full medical treatments for their patients. Private medical practices that do not receive state funding or are not part of state health provision will use their Web-sites to advertise to attract new patients (Dickson and Hawcock, 1999, p. 290). However they may also consider harnessing such technology to make sure their Web-based systems can be used to treat patients more effectively than before the move to EPR. The viability of web-based systems and LAN’s has been advanced through improvements to the components used within computers as well as the switch from analogue to digital phone links. The speed and capacity of Web- based systems and LAN has not only boosted by more powerful microprocessors. It has also been boosted by the use of Synchronous Optical Networks (SONET) fibre optic phone links that can carry vast amounts of data across the globe as well as between a few medical practices within relatively small local areas (Nolte, 2001, p.263). Improvements in the effectiveness of the Semantic Web may not be immediately obvious to most users of the Internet. Yet improved links and browser filters have meant that Internet searches have become more relevant as well as faster. Such filters can be added to Web-based systems as well as databases to filter out duplicate records or people with the same or similar names to the patient being treated. Online and offline filters are a way of exploring or mapping around Web sites and databases. Mapping principles can be applied to databases meaning that for example that you could find out all the patients that have the same surname or how many were born in the same particular year (Education Guardian June 21 2003). When tasked with putting all the disparate databases of medical practices that join together in a Web-based system it would be sensible to evaluate exactly what information is needed to provide a complete, effective and improved service. It is pointless wasting the time of software engineers or computer technicians putting or migrating irrelevant information onto new databases from old ones during the process of moving onto a Web-based system. Therefore it would be prudent to cull all irrelevant or duplicated information before such a move takes place. To some extent XML and RDF can read and interpret different programmes, formats and files, which can reduce some of the problems of disparity and standardisation. If the disparity between the differing programmes or formats and files is not too great then XML should prove to be more than adequate to ensure the Web-based system operates effectively. However the greater the disparity and lack of standardisation between the legacy systems and equipment used by the differing medical practices within any given Web-based system the stronger the arguments made for the adoption of RDF become. That is because although XML is a more standard format RDF is capable of linking and interpreting a wider range of programmes from a greater variety of sources. Some consideration has to be made for the length of time needed to transfer all the essential data onto the new Web-based system. To ensure that the doctors within the group of medical practices do not lose information it would be sensible to enable back up or emergency access to any existing information that they could need whilst that migration takes place. The Wide Web Consortium (W3C) had regarded RDF as one of its main Semantic Web formats. S3C has updated its RDF format and went a stage further by introducing a new Meta language in the guise of the Web Ontology Language or OWL (which was preferred to the more obvious WOL). OWL certainly has capabilities that make it useful within any semantic designed Web-based system (Technical Reports, February 2004). RDF is not the only format that has been revised and had variations of it created. Simple Object Access Protocol or SOAP is a well-used variant of XML. IBM also produced its own version of XML in the updated form of the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). The use of Darwin in its title indicates one of IBM’s aims for this format that it should evolve and grow along with everything else on the Internet. DITA was designed to create, produce, cascade or transmit complex data and information. The semantic Web designers working for and in conjunction with IBM soon realised the difficulty of establishing universal Meta languages formats or jargons. Therefore IBM and its associates settled for making DITA a Meta language that could and does allow as much information as possible to be produced, used and communicated between the originator of such information and any user that wishes to use it. The realisation that the adoption of a completely universal set of formats, protocols and equipment is highly improbable and unpractical indicates both the sheer size of the Internet and the speed of technological advances (Day, Priestley and Schell, 2001). The designers of protocols will often test the protocols to ensure that they work properly under all circumstances. For instance, its creators W3C test all the versions of SOAP plus computer journals and some users will carry out independent trials. These tests are available online for any individuals or organisations to use to run their own trials of the SOAP protocol. However system administrators will have to bear in mind that all computers fitted with SOAP (or any of its rivals) have to have the correct license agreements and that all parts of the software have been correctly installed. Upgrades are available online as are the tests for each version of SOAP. The tests are meant to demonstrate that a Web-based system works better when all the computers within it conform to the same standards of packages and capabilities. However it is in the interests of developers to say that, as they want individuals and organisations to buy their software rather than anybody else’s. SOAP like any of its rivals should be able to communicate with them even if it may take a little longer (W3C Recommendation 24 June 2003). Therefore the following conclusions can be reached with regard to medical practices adapting their computer systems upon joining together in Web-based systems. There are a myriad of different formats, protocols and equipment not to mention jargon to chose from. It is difficult to achieve standardisation when different medical practices bring all their different legacy systems to the Web-based system. It would be easier to achieve such standardisation when starting a network from the beginning. The best starting point for adopting the existing systems of these medical practices is doing a stock take of all the systems used, their strong points and their weak points and whether standard working practices will be just as useful as standardised computer systems and equipment. The chances are high that the differing practices will share some common equipment and working procedures. If they share common packages such as Microsoft based systems and compatible email and Internet connections that would be an advantage. However the medical practices should look at ways of improving the provision and accuracy of information supplied to doctors and other health care workers. A good place to start is at the databases they operate, Microsoft Access for instance can use filters to detect duplicate entries or pick out specific entries. The speed that which information can be accessed can depend on the speed of the Internet dial up connections, the memory capacity of the database and the location of the person obtaining the information. Buying computers with extra memory capacity can be a sensible strategy as it allows for the storage of greater amounts of information and means that it can be easier to upgrade and improve computers. The access and retrieval of information across LANs and semantic Web-based systems has been improved with digital phone and wireless links, the use of protocols such as XML, RDF and OWL. The use of wireless technology and laptop computers can be a great boost to swift medical treatment, as doctors do not have to be at their practices to obtain information. If I was responsible for switching the computer systems of differing medical practices into a single Web-based system I would opt for a Windows based database package such as Access in its up to date version. I would set the filters within the database to show duplicate patient records and also fast retrieval of any required record from the EPR. Where possible compression software would be used to keep the retrieval of information as speedy as possible whilst the databases would be fully compatible with the email system used. Outlook would be the preferred system as it is straightforward to use, can allow the sending of fairly large attachments, has diary and database features and combined with a good anti-virus system is relatively secure. The preferred protocol to use would be RDF or one of its variants, although XML based protocols would be an acceptable alternative. Perhaps the final consideration is not technological at all, the staffs of medical practices need to be well-trained and able to spot and solve any technical glitches or human mistakes. If the medical practices had enough time before moving on to the Web-based system it could be worth testing various protocols and databases to see which combination worked fastest and most accurately. If one set of combination was clearly better than any other that would the one to use within the Web-based system. 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