**6. BORM simulation models in regional management**

Latest BORM application of organisational modelling and simulation was the project of enhancing the decision-making of mayors and people from local administration. It offered the possibility to model and simulate real-life situations in small settlements. The project activities were for modelling; simulation and reengineering processes related to the regional government processes of small towns and villages, and the subsequent development of supporting information systems addressing life situations of local people.

Today, we have to deal with many troubles related to the settlement expansion into the open landscape. We need to improve the quality of life and the level of democracy of these people while preserving the conditions of the sustainable development (attending living standard, historic and cultural values, agronomic production, building and maintenance of transport network, touristic value, etc.).

Urben sprawl described by Frumklin in [16] is an issue that our method can also resolve. The root of the urban sprawl in the small settlement development is the circumstance that the elected local people (e.g. clerks, politicians, mayors...) cannot be completely knowledgeable in every part of law and local government itinerary and their practical impacts on their settlements and their citizens. They do not know how to fully use the legislation in favour of the settlements and usually depend on a misleading interpretation provided by their governing bodies and more often by another subjects, who are frequently privately involved in the process in question and thus biased.

[12] and many latest publications. The idea of FSM also inspired behavioural features of the

BORM uses an original diagram for business process modelling and subsequent simulation (see **Figure 5**). It conveys together information from three separate UML diagrams: state, com-

The BORM group has found that it is clearly understood by business stakeholders. Main

**2.** This diagram expresses all the possible process interactions between process participants. The business process itself consists of a sequence of particular communications and data

Officially, BORM process diagrams are graphical representations of interconnected Mealytype automata, where each automaton represents some participating entity of the entire business process. The idea of modelling participating entities as FSM automata was firstly discussed in [12]. Visual simulation of a business process is based on market-graph Petri net. It is a very similar method, which is fully explained in [15]. Hence, we can model states, transitions and operations of all entities involved in a given business process in a very powerful but still relatively simple and intelligible graphics for domain experts who typically are not

Latest BORM application of organisational modelling and simulation was the project of enhancing the decision-making of mayors and people from local administration. It offered the possibility to model and simulate real-life situations in small settlements. The project activities were for modelling; simulation and reengineering processes related to the regional government processes of small towns and villages, and the subsequent development of sup-

Today, we have to deal with many troubles related to the settlement expansion into the open landscape. We need to improve the quality of life and the level of democracy of these people while preserving the conditions of the sustainable development (attending living standard, historic and cultural values, agronomic production, building and maintenance of transport

Urben sprawl described by Frumklin in [16] is an issue that our method can also resolve. The root of the urban sprawl in the small settlement development is the circumstance that the elected local people (e.g. clerks, politicians, mayors...) cannot be completely knowledgeable

**1.** Each subject participating in a process is displayed in its states and transitions.

Unified Modelling Language [6].

**5.3. BORM business diagram**

70 Modeling and Computer Simulation

munication and sequence.

principles of the BORM process diagram are:

flows among participating subjects.

educated in detailed computed science.

network, touristic value, etc.).

**6. BORM simulation models in regional management**

porting information systems addressing life situations of local people.

Urban sprawl an uncontrolled expansion of certain kind of urban build-up into the free landscape caused by favourable land prices, demand for cheap but modern estates, etc. Dualny and others wrote [17] about harmful absorption of original small settlement structures, which causes many negative effects. It is a wrong experience that arose in the second half of twentieth century in the advanced industrial countries (USA, France and Great Britain) and lately also in our country. At the beginning, citizens of affected settlements typically perceive the urban sprawl optimistically, mostly because of the lobbying.

We examined the legislation and local officials' experience related to the processes and agendas of the urban planning of the landscape areas and small settlements with regards to the new housing and building law and regional management trends in the European Union. It consisted of a series of simulation sessions with four business process models correlated to the building development and territorial planning. One of them is also our example of the process of building permission in **Figure 6**.

Our method handling business process models of EU-legislative and their visual simulation encourages the officials (particularly in the smallest villages) to explain this legislation and shows the possible alternatives of its use. Our models and their visual simulations explain how the BORM can be applied to improve the process of decision-making on the level of mayors and local officials. It allows the opportunity to model and simulate real-life situations in small villages. The example at **Figure 6** presents the BORM business object diagram of a process of acquiring building permits. **Figure 7** presents the particular step of Craft.CASE simulation software [18], where the BORM model can be visually step-by-step animated.

Our method is based on business-process models and their visual simulation. This helps the participating subjects (especially in the smallest villages) to explain the legislation and designates the optional ways of its performing. Our models and their visual simulation illustrate how it can be practised to improve the decision-making process on the level of mayors and local authorities. It makes the opportunity to model and simulate real-life situations in small villages. Our modelling software allows analysing particular simulation steps. Our diagram is a visual representation of object associations and communications within given business-process. Our notation is the re-used UML notation from the state diagram, activity diagram and sequence diagram UML but combined and simplified in an original way into a new diagram that shows the process in the manner of mutually interacting automata (FSM). Furthermore, we can use a visual simulator for animating these business processes. Our visual simulation software has incorporated the user group communication component inspired by Facebook chatting (see **Figure 8**).

Sure, when presenting our method, the target staffs are typically not educated in any ICTrelated skill (Yet if they are people from small villages). On the other hand, the processmapping stage must be fast accomplished. This is why the analysis team does not have much

**Figure 6.** Building permission process.

time for detailed modelling training such as the explanation of all aspects of the used method with outcomes into the computer programming. Long-time education with a modelling software is also inapplicable. We typically have time only for a very short opening session on how to read our computer models. Here, we consider the big advantage of our method because this very introductory session typically takes only 20 minutes of a showing of how it works. Most people were ready to start their work after this primer.

**Figure 7.** Step-by-step simulation in Craft.CASE tool.

The Role of Computer Simulation Tools in Improving the Quality of Life in Small Settlements…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81244

73

**Figure 8.** On-line BORM business process simulation of Internet user group.

Consequently, we identified that the ICT equipment is not a big barrier to use our method as we expected on the assumption that the people were from small villages.

We prepared our models in the professional modelling software Craft.CASE and then transported them to the environment of a freeware simulator, which is fully available via the fast Internet. The network was not a problem, because the Central Bohemian region, where we did our project, due to the vicinity of Prague (capital city of the Czech Republic) is adequately equipped with high-speed Internet.

Finally, we asked 57 people from the local government of several Central-Bohemian small settlements about the increase of their knowledge and about their evaluation of their past The Role of Computer Simulation Tools in Improving the Quality of Life in Small Settlements… http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81244 73

**Figure 7.** Step-by-step simulation in Craft.CASE tool.

time for detailed modelling training such as the explanation of all aspects of the used method with outcomes into the computer programming. Long-time education with a modelling software is also inapplicable. We typically have time only for a very short opening session on how to read our computer models. Here, we consider the big advantage of our method because this very introductory session typically takes only 20 minutes of a showing of how it works.

Consequently, we identified that the ICT equipment is not a big barrier to use our method as

We prepared our models in the professional modelling software Craft.CASE and then transported them to the environment of a freeware simulator, which is fully available via the fast Internet. The network was not a problem, because the Central Bohemian region, where we did our project, due to the vicinity of Prague (capital city of the Czech Republic) is adequately

Finally, we asked 57 people from the local government of several Central-Bohemian small settlements about the increase of their knowledge and about their evaluation of their past

Most people were ready to start their work after this primer.

equipped with high-speed Internet.

**Figure 6.** Building permission process.

72 Modeling and Computer Simulation

we expected on the assumption that the people were from small villages.

**Figure 8.** On-line BORM business process simulation of Internet user group.

projects from the attitude of the newly obtained information. The probability between the answer about the efficiency of our new method and the estimated better participation was 64%. Furthermore, based on the new information, 67% of tested people stated the evidence, that external investors and lobbyists manipulated them in the past due to their former low level of business-process knowledge.

**Author details**

Vojtěch Merunka

**References**

1-55798-639-8

ISBN 1-861-52039-5

04521-7

IEC 19501

2007. pp. 5-13

Address all correspondence to: vmerunka@gmail.com

Addison Wesley; 1991. ISBN 0-201-54435-0

SIGS Books; 1997. ISBN 0521648262

Wesley, Reading Mass; 1997

University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

Department of Information Engineering, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech

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Our conclusions are also worthy of the possible subsequent software development of information systems addressing better life situations of local participants.
