EXPERT PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM GENERATOR

SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGERS (PMS) HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO REPLY ON "INTUITION," EXPERIENCE, AND ANALOGICAL REASONING HEURISTICS. FOR NEW PMS TO BE TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED PMS TO AVOID REPEATING OTHERS' MISTAKES, IT IS NECESSARY TO MAKETHE KNOWLEDGE AND HEURISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL PMS MORE WIDELY AVAILABLE. THE PROPOSERS HAVE ENVOLVED A MODEL OF PM THOUGHT PROCESSES OVER THE LAST DECADE THAT IS NOW READY TO BE IMPLEMENTED AS A GENERIC PM AID. THIS AID CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF "SPECIALIST" EXPERT SYSTEMS (CRITIC, LIBRARIAN, IDEA MAN, CRAFTSMAN, AND WRITER) THAT COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER VIA A "BLACKBOARD" ARCHITECTURE. THE VARIOUS SPECIALIST EXPERT SYSTEMS ARE DRIVEN TO SUPPORT PM TRAINING AND PROBLEM SOLVING SINCE ANY "ANSWERS" THEY PASS TO THE BLACKBOARD ARE SUBJECTED TO CONFLICT IDENTIFICATION (AGENDA FORMULATOR) AND GOAL SETTER INFERENCE ENGINES. THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DESIGN A PROTOTYPE OF THIS ARCHITECTURE; ELICIT A SAMPLE KNOWLEDGE BASE FROM GSFC PMS; IMPLEMENT THE PROTOTYPE IN A GRAPHICS-ORIENTED, LISP MACHINE ENVIRONMENT; OBTAIN POTENTIAL USER EVALUATIONS OF THE PROTOTYPE; AND DEVELOP A SPECIFICATION FOR PHASE II DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY. PHASE II WILL RESULT IN THE DESIRED PM TOOL. THAT TOOL WILLBE AN EXPERT PM SYSTEM (EPMS) GENERATOR THAT CAN BE ADAPTED TO ANY PM SETTING. SUCH A SPECIAL PURPOSE GENERATOR IS EXPECTED TO HAVE A CLEAR PM MARKETPLACE ADVANTAGE OVER GENERAL-PURPOSE EXPERT SYSTEM GENERATORS.