A Framework for Collaborative Project Planning Using Semantic Web Technology

Semantic web technology has become an enabling technology for machines to automatically process and integrate information and further conduct logical reasoning over a set of asserted facts based on formalized ontology applicable to various domains. It is possible for humans and machines to share information and make decisions interchangeably through mapping and merging ontologies and combining inference rules with business rules. Adoption of semantic web technology has been increasingly seen in many enterprise applications, including the improvement of collaboration in Architecture-Engineering-Construction project management due to the fact that the highly fragmented and localized structure in the life cycle of project development sets a series of organizational, technological and culture barriers impeding project players from efficiently acquiring information and effectively resolving conflicts. Rich-semantic applications allow for transparently dealing with heterogeneous, massive-scale, and dynamic enterprise content management in a virtual organization environment with more declarative, more expressive, and more consistent ontology management built on the Internet infrastructure. In this paper, we propose a semantically described and coordinated framework for enhancing project planning and execution through making use of semantic search, integration, and analysis to better manage constraints, minimize disruptions and delays, and achieve more reliable planning and higher productivity. The system architecture is depicted in six layers including multi-agent layer, application layer, semantic rule and query layer, ontology layer, data storage layer, and peer-to-peer (P2P) layer. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the work flow of collaborative planning with the interaction of humans and machines to expedite constraints, resolve schedule delays, and coordinate multiple schedules among various trades.