Towards Semantic Document Modelling of Business Processes

In this paper, we introduce a document-based approach to business process modelling. We argue that declarative semantic modelling should be preferred against the procedural one, which is typically used in software implementations of business processes. Semantic modelling allows for a transparent description of business processes, which is accessible both to manual and automated analysis, verification, and reuse. We present the idea of semantic document modelling and report on its implementation in a web platform, which has been successfully applied to automate business processes of real-world complexity. The basic feature of our semantic models is executability. This means that having been developed, a semantic model can function as a practical information system. For instance, a model, which semantically depicts business processes for enterprise resource planning can be directly used as an ERP system. This advantage makes the programming stage mainly obsolete and allows for disruptive efficiency/productivity and cost management improvements. The level of the 'executability ' of semantic models can range from proof-of-concept prototypes to real-life production-level systems. We have built a semantic modelling management system on top of the Libretto Web Framework. The combination of modelling and web technologies leads to new approaches of web development.