Norms and Commitment for iOrgs(TM) Information Systems: Direct Logic(TM) and Participatory Grounding Checking

TL;DR

This paper extends formal methods for organizational information systems, introducing direct logic and participatory grounding checking to better model active maintenance, asynchronous operation, and normative reasoning in iOrgs.

Contribution

It proposes novel logical frameworks and verification techniques tailored for structured, asynchronous organizational systems, addressing limitations of traditional event calculus and model checking.

Findings

Enhanced modeling of time-varying properties in iOrgs

Identification of inconsistencies in normative reasoning

Improved safety in practical reasoning processes

Abstract

The fundamental assumption of the Event Calculus is overly simplistic when it comes to organizations in which time-varying properties have to be actively maintained and managed in order to continue to hold and termination by another action is not required for a property to no longer hold. I.e., if active measures are not taken then things will go haywire by default. Similarly extension and revision is required for Grounding Checking properties of systems based on a set of ground inferences. Previously Model Checking as been performed using the model of nondeterministic automata based on states determined by time-points. These nondeterministic automata are not suitable for iOrgs, which are highly structured and operate asynchronously with only loosely bounded nondeterminism. iOrgs Information Systems have been developed as a technology in which organizations have people that are tightly integrated with information technology that enables them to function organizationally. iOrgs formalize existing practices to provide a framework for addressing issues of authority, accountability, scalability, and robustness using methods that are analogous to human organizations. In general -iOrgs are a natural extension Web Services, which are the standard for distributed computing and software application interoperability in large-scale Organizational Computing. -iOrgs are structured by Organizational Commitment that is a special case of Physical Commitment that is defined to be information pledged. iOrgs norms are used to illustrate the following: -Even a very simple microtheory for normative reasoning can engender inconsistency In practice, it is impossible to verify the consistency of a theory for a practical domain. -Improved Safety in Reasoning. It is not safe to use classical logic and probability theory in practical reasoning.