Applying topic maps to ad hoc workflows for semantic associative navigation in process networks

The increasing integration of groupware-based office systems in the internal business processes of companies leads to growing information memories. A significant part of work in such an office environment involves a combination of highly structured processes and tasks where the process is fuzzy and the rules, routes, and roles are dynamically defined as the work is being done (ad hoc processes). The Group Process project postulates the need for an effective support of ad hoc workflows in groupware-based office environments. An inherent challenge in this project is the analysis of a great amount of already run workflows. As a solution we chose topic maps to identify distributed knowledge structures in a process-oriented groupware environment. Topic maps provide mechanisms for navigating and linking, as well as options for extensive searches and investigations to explore and use the complex information and knowledge offered. The usage of topic maps addresses the challenge of analyzing run ad hoc workflows. Furthermore, applying topic maps to workflows in general enables the identification of the implicit and inherent process knowledge.