Plenary Lecture

An Information Flow based Model of Representation for Developing Informatics as an Academic Discipline

Professor Junkang Feng
Guest Professor, Donghua University,
CHINA
Email: Junkang.FENG@uws.ac.uk

Dr. Yang Wang
University of the West of Scotland,
UK

Abstract: In informatics and information systems, a fundamental notion is representation. And yet, it would seem that in the literature of information systems this notion has been taken as self-evident and therefore treated largely intuitively, and in particular, how a possible representational relationship between two systems may be systematically identified and formalized has not been fully addressed. We believe that a mathematical model of representation helps develop informatics as a proper academic discipline. We observe that the notion of representation is formalizable. This is because it is information flow channels that underpin representational relationships between systems. We propose an information flow based model whereby to capture, formalize, analyze and reason about representation for distributed systems. We draw on semantic information theories, which not only lay solid philosophical foundations, but also contribute to forming a mathematical foundation for the model. Regularities is taken as a fundamental principle based upon which an information flow channel is constructed in which both tokens and types of a classification are taken into consideration. We introduce the notion of representation link, which connects classifications (contexts in FCA) through type level constraints and token level connections. Our model enables an analysis of information flow within a distributed system both qualitatively and quantitatively. The channel hierarchy and link hierarchy take into account background information, which enhances inference on representation links. The model allows agents to choose a channel that is the most appropriate for their purposes without violating the objectivity of information flow.

This model is then applied to the problem of semantic interoperability. A semantic integration model is thus built. The process of semantic integration is examined by using the mathematical mechanism of the model. The validity of the model is verified by analyzing results of semantic integration from both content and quantity perspectives, and also by showing that the notion of channel and representation link hierarchy involved in our model helps reason over different but relevant integrations.



Brief Biography of the Speaker:
Junkang Feng PhD was born in Shanghai China and studied at the Shanghai High School in Shanghai and then graduated from the Institute of Military Engineering of the People’s Libration Army (PLA). In China, he lectured at the National University of Defense Technology of the PLA and then worked in a research institute under the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. In the UK, he received his MPhil from the University of Portsmouth and PhD from the University of the West of Scotland (the UWS) in Computer Science and Information Systems. He was a Research Associate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester before became a Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer at the UWS. He established and leads the Database Research Group of the UWS. He is also a Guest Professor and Director of Information Systems Research Institute of Donghua University in Shanghai China, and a Part Time Professor of Beijing Union University Beijing China. His interests include qualitative information and information flow theories, distributed information systems, and database theory and systems, and has published widely in journals, conferences and books in these fields.