Collaborative Business Items (CoBIs) is a EU funded project targeted at closing the gap between networked embedded systems technologies and their application in large-scale business processes and enterprise systems. The core objective is to develop a radically new approach to business processes that concerns physical entities in enterprise environments (goods, tools, etc). This approach embraces advances in networked embedded systems to embed business logic in the physical entities, thereby creating Collaborative Business Items (CoBIs). These Items bring closer together the state of an enterprise as represented in a business process with what is actually happening in the real world. Moreover, collectively these Items constitute a platform for directly handling processes at the ‘Point of Action’: they facilitate business services that deal with problems and decisions where and when they arise. Many services that have traditionally been handled centrally in back-end systems can be made more reliable, responsive, scalable and cost effective by directly embedding them with the relevant goods and tools. Moreover, entirely new services can be introduced to support critical processes that so far had to rely entirely on manual and error-prone procedures.

The intention of CoBIs is to apply advances in Networked Embedded Systems to embed business logic in the physical entities to create Collaborative Business Items (CoBIs) that make it possible to relate more closely the state of an enterprise as represented in a business process with what is actually happening in the real world. CoBIs will make it possible to apply networked embedded systems technologies in large-scale business processes and enterprise systems by developing the technologies for directly handling processes at the relevant point of action rather than in a centralised back-end system. Project objectives include modelling embedded business services, developing the collaborative and technology frameworks for CoBIs with necessary management support, and investigating and evaluating CoBIs in real-world application trials in the oil and gas industry. The project relates strongly to the fundamental theme of ambient intelligence underpinning the Information Society Technologies (IST) thematic priority in FP6, and to the general notion of integration of computers and networks in the environment. More specifically, CoBIs clearly falls within the scope of research under the IST embedded system theme. The project offers significant impact in terms of potential for process innovation to gain operational efficiency and prevent occupational injuries and disasters, to be validated through real-world applications trials, and for product innovation in networked embedded systems technologies. It involves academic partners with outstanding track records in achieving high-profile scientific impact, as well as world class industrial key players in the consortium that have the weight to ensure exploitation and dissemination of results; and existing strong liaisons to standardisation bodies.

CoBIs partners are: SAP AG, Infineon, Lancaster University, BP, Ambient Systems, University of Twente and TecO

Some first slides can be found here.

For more information contact Michael Beigl. Technical information can also be found at the Particle Web-Site