Merging Spatio-Temporal Objects and Business Processes: Land Reform Process Case Study

Abstract

Although significant progress has been achieved in the development of spatio-temporal models that capture real-world phenomena, more interaction between phenomenon-based and business-based modeling approaches is still required. This represents a much-needed step forward in balancing the management and scientific aspects of many urban applications. The main goal of this paper is to provide an integrated modeling framework that combines MADS (Modeling of Application Data with Spatio-temporal Features), a specific conceptual spatiotemporal model that successfully represents geographical data, with BPMN (Business Process Model Notation), which models and determines how business processes interact with geographic objects. The integration of MADS and BPMN guarantees clarity, extensibility, and autonomy between data and management operations, as it portrays spatio-temporal abstractions on a conceptual level. This integration offers a unique opportunity to accurately represent, understand, and explain the rationale behind the changes occurring in space and time. The approach has been implemented within a PostgreSQL/PostGIS database management system. A case study implementation shows the practical applicability and potential of this modeling approach.