Our research group aims to progress the state-of-the-art in Process and Data Science, this with a particular focus on process mining. Therefore, we seek innovative ways of information sharing, and this new blog is one of them (next to tweets @pads_rwth and news items on our home page). The goal is to showcase the work done in the group in an informal manner. Blog posts will report on internal presentations, new research results, new activities, and other exciting developments. The group was founded recently (January 2018), but already approx. 20 group members joined, and many exciting activities have been started. For example, we are involved in the approved Cluster of Excellence – Internet of Production (IoP) where we collaborate with groups working on production systems. We also closely collaborate with Uniklinik RWTH Aachen on process mining in healthcare. In 2019, we will organize three conferences: the first International Conference on Process Mining (ICPM 2019), the 40th annual Conference on Application and Theory of Petri Nets and Concurrency (ATPN2019), and the 19th International Conference on Application of Concurrency to System Design (ACSD 2019). In short: “Data Science in Action” and Aachen is where the action is.
Picture: Alexander von Humboldt professorship awarded to prof. Wil van der Aalst by the Federal Minister Anja Karliczek in May 2018.
These are exciting times for a research group working on the interface between process science and data science. The interest in process mining is booming, and many of our research results are directly applied in industry. At the same, we are working on foundational problems related to process discovery, conformance checking, and performance analysis. With Fraunhofer FIT, we work on automated, data-driven process improvement and our dream is to provide tools that suggest process redesigns based on domain knowledge and event data. Topics such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Case Management (CM), Business Process Management (BPM) can also greatly benefit from process mining. The work done by the chair has led to a new breed of analytics tools. Currently, there are about 25 organizations providing process mining tools on a commercial basis. At the same time, we feel responsible for developing data science techniques protecting people from irresponsible uses of event data. Topics such as fairness, accuracy, confidentiality, and transparency need to be addressed urgently. Therefore, our research on responsible process mining nicely completes the research portfolio of our group. The Alexander von Humboldt professorship awarded to me by the Federal Minister Anja Karliczek in May 2018, enables us to attract young talent to come to Aachen to work on these topics. If you are interested in joining us, please let us know!
We hope that you enjoy the subsequent blog posts!
Wil van der Aalst