Home page: http://www.isi.edu/~argos
Grant dates: June 1, 2003 - June 1, 2006
Grant amount: $350,000 annually
Research team: Prof. Genevieve Giuliano (PI), SPPD*, USC; Dr. Jose Luis Ambite (Co-PI), ISI*, USC; Prof. Peter Gordon (Co-PI), SPPD, USC; Dr. Stefan Decker, ISI, USC
* SPPD - School of Policy, Planning and Development; ISI - Information Sciences Institute

Quote: "Since web services constitute crucial elements of the emerging electronic marketplace, we expect our approach to web service composition to have a broad impact across many disciplines and economic activities by significantly reducing the cost of accessing and processing information."

Abstract:

ARGOS: Dynamic Composition of Web Services for Goods Movement Analysis and Planning
This research will develop Argos, a flexible data query and analysis system based on the web services paradigm. As an application domain we will examine several goods movement planning problems and their effects on spatial urban structure.

Many scientific problems can be modeled as a workflow that includes information gathering and processing operations. We propose a unifying framework where these operations are modeled as web services and the scientific workflows as compositions of web services. Argos provides graphical tools for manual specification and composition of web services, as well as automatic composition based on expressive web service descriptions for given application domains (such as transportation planning).

We will use Argos in a metropolitan transportation planning scenario in consultation with our advisory team, that includes government practitioners from the California Department of Transportation, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the San Bernardino Associated Governments, the Southern California Association of Governments, the Port of Long Beach, and others. The scenario analysis will allow evaluation of Argos in terms of its expressiveness, utility as a transportation planning tool, and ease of use by developers and practitioners.

Project Summary:

ARGOS: Dynamic Composition of Web Services for Goods Movement Analysis and Planning
This research will develop a flexible data query and analysis system based on the web services paradigm. As an application domain we will examine several goods movement planning problems and their effects on spatial urban structure. This research falls under both Class 1 and cross-collaboration in the Digital Government program.

Objectives and Methods: The research has three objectives: 1) to advance computer science research by developing an expressive web services description language and techniques for dynamically composing web services, 2) to develop and conduct test applications of an intra-metropolitan goods movement flow model using web services in cooperation with government partners, and 3) to use the model to conduct social science research on intra-metropolitan economic linkages and spatial structure. Although the focus is on the specific topic of urban goods movement, the approach to web service composition is general and can be applied to other scientific data gathering and analysis tasks.

The first objective is to develop Argos, a general framework for dynamically composing web services. Many scientific problems can be modeled as a workflow that includes information gathering and processing operations. We propose a unifying framework where these operations are modeled as web services and the scientific workflows as compositions of web services. Argos provides graphical tools for manual specification and composition of web services, as well as automatic composition based on expressive web service descriptions for given application domains (such as transportation planning).

The second objective is to use Argos in an actual metropolitan planning application. In consultation with an advisory team of government representatives, from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the San Bernardino Associated Governments, the Southern California Association of Governments and the Port of Long Beach. a scenario analysis using the Los Angeles region as a case study will be conducted. The scenario analysis will allow evaluation of Argos both in terms of its utility as a transportation planning tool as well as its ease of use by practitioners.

The third objective is to extend the transportation planning domain to address problems of urban spatial structure that heretofore have not been practical for social science researchers to study due to the lack of tools for integrating and analyzing available data. There is an extensive theoretical literature on employment location; transport of freight inputs and outputs are critical elements of these models. Empirical research on employment location is limited, because of the lack of availability of freight flow data. We will analyze the relationships between industry mix, flows, and urban spatial structure, using the Los Angeles region as our case study. These problems will illustrate the adaptability and extensibility of the Argos framework.

Intellectual Merit: The proposed research advances the state of knowledge in three ways. First, this research develops an architecture for description and composition of web services. Following a mediation/planning approach based on expressive web service descriptions, Argos is able to automatically compose web services in response user requirements. Second, the research will be the first to integrate freight flow information into the systematic study of urban structure. The availability of freight flow information provides opportunities to significantly expand empirical urban economics research on a number of fronts. Third, this research demonstrates both the feasibility and value of interdisciplinary collaboration across computer and social sciences.

Broader Impacts: A basic goal of the Digital Government Program is to promote application of advanced technologies in government. This research will be conducted in cooperation with state and local government agencies, and will share the methodological results and software tools for general use in the public sector. Since web services constitute crucial elements of the emerging electronic marketplace, we expect our approach to web service composition to have a broad impact across many disciplines and economic activities by significantly reducing the cost accessing and processing information. Other impacts include training of graduate students and promoting interdisciplinary research.