aDApTA: Adaptive approach to information integration in dynamic environments Kelli de Faria Cordeiro a,b, *, Maria Luiza M. Campos a , Marcos R.S. Borges a a Graduate Program in Informatics (PPGI), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, 274, Pre ´dio do CCMN – Cidade Universita ´ria, Ilha do Funda ˜o, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-916, Brazil b Center for Systems Analysis (CASNAV), Brazilian Navy, Prac ¸a Bara˜o de Lada ´rio s/n o , Ilha das Cobras, Rua da Ponte, Edifı´cio 23 do AMRJ, Centro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20091-000, Brazil 1. Introduction In supply chain management, there are different organizations and systems generating and consuming information that has semantic and structural heterogeneity. Empirical studies suggest that integrated supply chain information can deliver a better operational and business performance. However, achieving this integration is a hard task due to the differences in semantics and business rules between applications that were not originally expected to collaborate [28,16]. Logistics management is a discipline within the supply chain that specializes in commercial and humanitarian logistics [13]. The recent disaster caused by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines highlights the complexity of humanitarian logistics. Managers and citizens make decisions under high pressure due to the dynamic of the unpredicted events. The amount, type, and location of needs and donations (e.g., medical supplies, food and clothes) are unpredictable. The humanitarian logistics process can be divided into four phases: assessment, procurement, warehousing, and transport [29]. In the assessment phase, it is crucial to evaluate the needs of victims and staff so that better support can be provided in the following phases. Such a task has to be accomplished during highly dynamic events, and carrying it out is based on situational awareness and knowledge of the availability of warehouse stock. The assessment can also be supported by applications and technologies that identify and match requests with offers of help on the social media to meet the needs of victims [26,24]. Further- more, to manage this complex environment, some research has focused on the operational models [14,20] and other research has focused on the design of the operational process [29]. However, from an information management perspective, some particular characteristics have emerged that require appropriate approaches. As Fig. 1 depicts, victims, staff, donors, and warehouse managers generate and present information in different informa- tion systems using distinct structures and meanings. For example, the priority regions may be listed on a spreadsheet and the information about shipments and warehouse stock may be stored on a relational database file. In return, citizens, the community, and managers need to consume integrated logistical information to better make decisions. Thus, the heterogeneity of incoming data has to be addressed in order to deliver an integrated view of the Computers in Industry 71 (2015) 88–102 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 3 August 2014 Received in revised form 24 February 2015 Accepted 5 March 2015 Available online Keywords: Information integration Complex information system Adaptation Decision support system Linked data A B S T R A C T In complex environments, decision making process faces several challenges due to the dynamic of unpredicted events. There is a highly dynamic flow of information in a situation where most of the relevant data is heterogeneous, cannot be predicted and loaded previously. Even though many efforts have been made in data integration research, choosing the appropriate approach to an unknown (in advance) semantic level of information is still an open issue. The traditional relational data integration methods are not suitable to support complex environments due to the rigidity of their schema. As an alternative, Graph Data models can handle structural heterogeneity complemented by semantic representations like Linked Open Data on the Web. Based on these alternatives, this research proposes aDApTA, an adaptive approach to information integration and its associated architecture. An application example in a real scenario is presented. In this scenario, the logistics of relief goods are managed by a dynamic and multi-perspective view. ß 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Center for Systems Analysis (CASNAV), Brazilian Navy, Brazil. Tel.: +55 21 21977483. E-mail addresses: kelli@ppgi.ufrj.br (K.d.F. Cordeiro), mluiza@ppgi.ufrj.br (M.L.M. Campos), mborges@ppgi.ufrj.br (Marcos R.S. Borges). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers in Industry jo ur n al ho m epag e: ww w.els evier .c om /lo cat e/co mp in d http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2015.03.002 0166-3615/ß 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.