Decision Support System (DSS) is a computer based system of information which aids organizations and businesses with analytical decisions. {1} The almost infinite variables, coupled with the effect that actions cause upon the variables, in life and business, must be thoroughly analyzed. The human mind, in its own limited capacity, cannot service the elaborate series of deductions and decisions that must be accounted for on this level.
Although research has been conducted with respect to “decision making” since the 1950’s, the most substantive discoveries took place in the late 1980’s when a number of decision making protocols, including EIS, GDSS and ODSS developed from a single user DSS. Today there are multiple taxonomies within DSS, each having three fundamentally similar components; a database, model and interface.
The benefits of Decision Support Systems have displayed themselves in multiple environments. {2} Most prominently DSS has been used in military, business, engineering and medicine. The precision with which DSS are able to convey practical solutions to situations in which there is limited information available for an unaided mind is a striking benefit. In medicine, for example, DSS’s have proven to enhance clinical performance as it relates to drug dosing and preventative care. In military operations, multiple outcome targeted operations benefit from mitigation of human cognitive deficiencies by integrating various sources of information, providing intelligent access to relevant knowledge, and aiding the process of structuring decisions and operations.
Clearly, the benefits and support of DSS in our society is indisputable. However, there are still obstacles which DSS faces. The “human component” that incorporates sensory elements and non-logical evaluation, or idiosyncratic thinking, is still lacking in DSS. For example, although drug dosage performance has improved with the use of DSS, there has been no evidence of its benefit in diagnosis. Similarly, patient outcomes, strongly dependent on diagnosis, have been insufficiently studied.
The future of DSS relies heavily on an armada of new tools and technologies which include artificial intelligence techniques, intelligent agents, and the World Wide Web. Over the next decade DSS research and use will focus on teams, workgroups and decentralized structure.{4} Perhaps, some of the modalities, particularly AI, will account for some of the human element of functioning that sways the decision process, one way or another, and currently may account for some of the flaws in DSS (i.e. medical diagnoses). In addition, the scope of DSS will continue to expand into the “global village” as geographic boundaries become less relevant to information, decision making, and add a new camaraderie, as well as a new set of competitive elements in our world.
Joe
ReplyDeleteThe research was a little confusing in that I needed to look up some of the terms. I thought you could have explained more about the decentralization of DSS in the last paragraph. I looked online and didn't find much I could share with you. Maybe you have more in the sources you used to expand on this point. That way you can pull the paper together with a ending statement that is stronger than the one you used.