Recursos

Dynamic resource allocation is considered a major challenge in the context of business process management. At the operational level, flexible methods that support resource allocation and which consider different criteria at run-time are required. It is also important that these methods are able to support multiple allocations in a simultaneous manner. In this paper, we present a framework based on multi-factor criteria that proposes a recommender system which is capable of recommending the most suitable resources for executing a range of different activities, while also considering individual requests or requests made in blocks. To evaluate the proposed framework, a number of experiments were conducted using different test scenarios. These scenarios provide evidence that our approach based on multi-factor criteria successfully allocates the most suitable resources for executing a process in real and flexible environments. In order to demonstrate this assertion, we use a help-desk process as a real case study. 

The BPIC Challenge 2017 provides an event log based on a real financial entity that represents the loan approval process triggered by the clients’ applications submission. The mentioned log consists of 31,509 cases, there are 4,047 variants and from the whole process are recognized 26 activities. The analysis was done using process mining tools and spreadsheet manipulation. The challenge proposed four questions that would allow us to explore certain subsets of the data and analyze them. The first question is about the throughput times of the process; the second question concerns about the conversion rate of multiple and single offer cases; the third question try to discover the system users influence in the final outcome of its clients application; and the fourth questions is about the behavior of clients whose offers are cancelled. We found that clients were slower than bank’s workers and this happens in spite of the type of case. Also, the system user - client affects the final status of a given offer and that the value of this type of interaction can be quantified. Besides, the conversion rate is similar between single and multiple offers. We proposed an inactivity model to make predictions about the possible outcomes given certain characteristic of each case. Finally, we give some recommendations to handle these situations.

Global healthcare services have evolved over time, and nowadays they are expected to follow high-quality optimized standards. Analyzing healthcare processes has become a relevant field of study, and different techniques and tools have been developed to promote improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of these processes. There is a research field called process mining that can be used to extract knowledge from the event data stored in the hospital information systems. With the help of this, it is possible to discover the real executed process, examine its performance and analyze the resource interaction during its execution. The goal of this article is to provide a bibliographic survey about the use of process mining algorithms, techniques, and tools in the analysis of healthcare processes, providing a general overview about the main approaches previously used and the information required to apply them in the medical field. We provide important insights about data, algorithms, techniques and methodologies that are required to help answer medical expert questions about their processes, motivating and inspiring a broader usage. So, if we have the information and it is possible to analyze and understand the healthcare processes, why are we not doing it?

This paper gives a general look about the forensic computer science, its definition and main character- istics. Also, it shows the importance that the forensic computer science is put into practice in an effective way, together with the support that receives from the technology tools. Finally, explains the applica- tion that has this science in Costa Rica, as well the existent legislation for computer science crime in the country.

Purpose – Human resource allocation is considered a relevant problem in business process management (BPM). The successful allocation of available resources for the execution of process activities can impact on process performance, reduce costs and obtain a better productivity of the resources. In particular, process mining is an emerging discipline that allows improvement of the resource allocation based on the analysis of historical data. The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad review of primary studies published in the research area of human resource allocation in BPM and process mining. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic mapping study (SMS) was conducted in order to classify the proposed approaches to allocate human resources. A total of 2,370 studies published between January 2005 and July 2016 were identified. Through a selection protocol, a group of 95 studies were selected.

Findings – Human resource allocation is an emerging research area that has been evolving over time, generating new proposals that are increasingly applied to real case studies. The majority of proposed approaches relate to the period 2011-2016. Journals and conference proceedings are the most common venues. Validation research and evaluation research are the most common research types. There are two main evaluation methods: simulation and case studies.

Originality/value – This study aims to provide an initial assessment of the state of the art in the research area of human resource allocation in BPM and process mining. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research that has been conducted to date that generates a SMS in this research area.

Surveys and questionnaires are commonly used to capture people’s experiences with technology. However, some older users experience issues when reading and filling out forms, and inexperienced computer users may not be comfortable with web-based versions. To improve the report of user experience, we designed and implemented Aestimo, a tangible interface based on a shortened version of the AttrakDiff questionnaire. The interface was evaluated during a study with 20 older adults (age avg. = 65.6). Although completing the Aestimo questionnaire took longer than a paper-and-pen version of AttrakDiff, 60% of participants preferred Aestimo over AttrakDiff. Aestimo was found to be innovative and inviting, and to stimulate the senses and the mind. Participants liked feeling guided by the interface, and also found their experience to be playful and fun. Overall, the evaluation of Aestimo was highly positive and suggests that some user groups may benefit from the availability of innovative evaluation experiences.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in creating applications that allow grandparents to communicate with grandchildren living at a distance, since the involvement of grandparents in the lives of grandchildren is important for both generations. Therefore, it is necessary to know the context of the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren and how they communicate. This article presents a proposal for SINCOM: a simple and intergenerational communication tool that includes the needs and communication preferences of those involved. The proposal has two main characteristics: allowing communication without parental involvement, and incorporating recreational activities to generate conversation topics. These findings help in the development of a functional and complete application that can be evaluated with more users.

With the realization of this article it is to give a better panorama about the leasing of technologies of information in our country, analyzing the advantages and obstacles that it presents, leasing companies criteria, and the legal frame that regulates this financing modality.

El estudio analiza desde la perspectiva de los empleadores de los graduados de la carrera de Informática Empresarial de las sedes regionales de la Universidad de Costa Rica las debilidades y fortalezas en relación con la formación académica y gestión del desempeño. La información se obtuvo de una muestra de 47 empleadores de diferentes provincias del país. Se exponen los resultados relacionados con su género, grado académico y el grado de satisfacción de los empleadores con respecto al lenguaje de programación, administración de las tecnologías de información (TI), economía de los recursos y gestión de recursos de TI.

Tangible User Interfaces allow users to manipulate digital information while taking advantage of their skills in using physical objects. This may be especially advantageous for older users with a lack of experience in technology use. This paper presents the implementation of TorBook, a tangible user interface in book format that detects the page that is open. We conducted an evaluation with 20 older adults to evaluate the functionality of TorBook. We find that participants feel comfortable with a tangible interface that uses a book metaphor, but that manipulation must be improved to become as similar as possible in its use as a regular book.