A Conceptual Framework for Semantic Business Process Configuration

In this work, we present a conceptual framework for deriving executable business process models from conceptual business process models, based on the paradigm of Service-Oriented Architectures and Semantic Web technology. The framework yields higher automation in the process configuration phase through the use of semantic annotations of the process activities. Based on the annotations, a more direct link is established between a business view on a process and its execution driven by an IT system. This link enables the derivation of an execution-level model for newly created business process models as well as adaptation of the execution model after re-engineering processes, possibly under certain re-design goals (such as quality, cost, execution time, flexibility, or others).The framework includes a component architecture and an algorithm that describes how to combine executable artifacts, such as (Semantic) Web services, in order to find an implementation that matches a given business process model. An extensible set of criteria can be used for validating the composition