<s>
A	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
system	I-Application
(	O
DSS	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
information	O
system	O
that	O
supports	O
business	O
or	O
organizational	O
decision-making	O
activities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
systems	I-Application
can	O
be	O
either	O
fully	O
computerized	O
or	O
human-powered	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
both	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
authors	O
have	O
extended	O
the	O
definition	O
of	O
DSS	O
to	O
include	O
any	O
system	O
that	O
might	O
support	O
decision	O
making	O
and	O
some	O
DSS	O
include	O
a	O
decision-making	B-Application
software	I-Application
component	O
;	O
Sprague	O
(	O
1980	O
)	O
defines	O
a	O
properly	O
termed	O
DSS	O
as	O
follows	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
DSS	O
attempts	O
to	O
combine	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
models	O
or	O
analytic	O
techniques	O
with	O
traditional	O
data	B-General_Concept
access	I-General_Concept
and	O
retrieval	B-Application
functions	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
DSSs	O
include	O
knowledge-based	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
properly	O
designed	O
DSS	O
is	O
an	O
interactive	B-General_Concept
software-based	O
system	O
intended	O
to	O
help	O
decision	O
makers	O
compile	O
useful	O
information	O
from	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
raw	O
data	O
,	O
documents	O
,	O
and	O
personal	O
knowledge	O
,	O
or	O
business	O
models	O
to	O
identify	O
and	O
solve	O
problems	O
and	O
make	O
decisions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typical	O
information	O
that	O
a	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
application	O
might	O
gather	O
and	O
present	O
includes	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
inventories	O
of	O
information	O
assets	O
(	O
including	O
legacy	O
and	O
relational	B-Application
data	I-Application
sources	O
,	O
cubes	B-Algorithm
,	O
data	O
warehouses	O
,	O
and	O
data	B-General_Concept
marts	I-General_Concept
)	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
concept	O
of	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
has	O
evolved	O
mainly	O
from	O
the	O
theoretical	O
studies	O
of	O
organizational	O
decision	O
making	O
done	O
at	O
the	O
Carnegie	O
Institute	B-Application
of	O
Technology	O
during	O
the	O
late	O
1950s	O
and	O
early	O
1960s	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
implementation	O
work	O
done	O
in	O
the	O
1960s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
middle	O
and	O
late	O
1980s	O
,	O
executive	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
(	O
EIS	O
)	O
,	O
group	B-Application
decision	I-Application
support	I-Application
systems	I-Application
(	O
GDSS	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
organizational	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
systems	I-Application
(	O
ODSS	O
)	O
evolved	O
from	O
the	O
single	O
user	O
and	O
model-oriented	O
DSS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Sol	O
(	O
1987	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
definition	O
and	O
scope	O
of	O
DSS	O
have	O
been	O
migrating	O
over	O
the	O
years	O
:	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
DSS	O
was	O
described	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
computer-based	O
system	O
to	O
aid	O
decision	O
making	O
"	O
;	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1970s	O
the	O
DSS	O
movement	O
started	O
focusing	O
on	O
"	O
interactive	B-General_Concept
computer-based	O
systems	O
which	O
help	O
decision-makers	O
utilize	O
data	O
bases	O
and	O
models	O
to	O
solve	O
ill-structured	O
problems	O
"	O
;	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
DSS	O
should	O
provide	O
systems	O
"	O
using	O
suitable	O
and	O
available	O
technology	O
to	O
improve	O
effectiveness	O
of	O
managerial	O
and	O
professional	O
activities	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
towards	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
1980s	O
DSS	O
faced	O
a	O
new	O
challenge	O
towards	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
intelligent	O
workstations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
system	I-Application
is	O
credited	O
with	O
significantly	O
reducing	O
travel	O
delays	O
by	O
aiding	O
the	O
management	O
of	O
ground	O
operations	O
at	O
various	O
airports	O
,	O
beginning	O
with	O
O'Hare	O
International	O
Airport	O
in	O
Chicago	O
and	O
Stapleton	O
Airport	O
in	O
Denver	O
,	O
Colorado	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Beginning	O
in	O
about	O
1990	O
,	O
data	O
warehousing	O
and	O
on-line	B-Application
analytical	I-Application
processing	I-Application
(	O
OLAP	B-Application
)	O
began	O
broadening	O
the	O
realm	O
of	O
DSS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DSS	O
also	O
have	O
a	O
weak	O
connection	O
to	O
the	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
paradigm	O
of	O
hypertext	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Vermont	O
PROMIS	O
system	O
(	O
for	O
medical	O
decision	O
making	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
Carnegie	O
Mellon	O
ZOG/KMS	O
system	O
(	O
for	O
military	O
and	O
business	O
decision	O
making	O
)	O
were	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
systems	I-Application
which	O
also	O
were	O
major	O
breakthroughs	O
in	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
example	O
is	O
the	O
clinical	B-Application
decision	I-Application
support	I-Application
system	I-Application
for	O
medical	O
diagnosis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
four	O
stages	O
in	O
the	O
evolution	O
of	O
clinical	B-Application
decision	I-Application
support	I-Application
system	I-Application
(	O
CDSS	O
)	O
:	O
the	O
primitive	O
version	O
is	O
standalone	O
and	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
integration	O
;	O
the	O
second	O
generation	O
supports	O
integration	O
with	O
other	O
medical	O
systems	O
;	O
the	O
third	O
is	O
standard-based	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
fourth	O
is	O
service	O
model-based	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Executive	B-Protocol
dashboard	I-Protocol
and	O
other	O
business	O
performance	O
software	O
allow	O
faster	O
decision	O
making	O
,	O
identification	O
of	O
negative	O
trends	O
,	O
and	O
better	O
allocation	O
of	O
business	O
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
DSSAT4	B-Application
package	O
,	O
The	O
Decision	B-Application
Support	I-Application
System	I-Application
for	O
Agrotechnology	O
Transfer	O
developed	O
through	O
financial	O
support	O
of	O
USAID	O
during	O
the	O
1980s	O
and	O
1990s	O
,	O
has	O
allowed	O
rapid	O
assessment	O
of	O
several	O
agricultural	O
production	O
systems	O
around	O
the	O
world	O
to	O
facilitate	O
decision-making	O
at	O
the	O
farm	O
and	O
policy	O
levels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Community	O
of	O
Practice	O
of	O
Forest	O
Management	O
Decision	B-Application
Support	I-Application
Systems	I-Application
provides	O
a	O
large	O
repository	O
on	O
knowledge	O
about	O
the	O
construction	O
and	O
use	O
of	O
forest	O
Decision	B-Application
Support	I-Application
Systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
specific	O
example	O
concerns	O
the	O
Canadian	O
National	O
Railway	O
system	O
,	O
which	O
tests	O
its	O
equipment	O
on	O
a	O
regular	O
basis	O
using	O
a	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
problem	O
faced	O
by	O
any	O
railroad	B-Application
is	O
worn-out	O
or	O
defective	O
rails	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
result	O
in	O
hundreds	O
of	O
derailments	O
per	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
Mistral	O
is	O
an	O
expert	B-Application
system	I-Application
to	O
monitor	O
dam	O
safety	O
,	O
developed	O
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
by	O
Ismes	O
(	O
Italy	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GIS	B-Application
has	O
been	O
successfully	O
used	O
since	O
the	O
‘	O
90s	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
DSS	O
,	O
to	O
show	O
on	O
a	O
map	O
real-time	O
risk	O
evaluations	O
based	O
on	O
monitoring	O
data	O
gathered	O
in	O
the	O
area	O
of	O
the	O
Val	O
Pola	O
disaster	O
(	O
Italy	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Three	O
fundamental	O
components	O
of	O
a	O
DSS	O
architecture	B-Architecture
are	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
the	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
users	O
themselves	O
are	O
also	O
important	O
components	O
of	O
the	O
architecture	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
communication-driven	O
DSS	O
enables	O
cooperation	O
,	O
supporting	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
person	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
shared	O
task	O
;	O
examples	O
include	O
integrated	O
tools	O
like	O
Google	O
Docs	O
or	O
Microsoft	B-Protocol
SharePoint	I-Protocol
Workspace	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
document-driven	O
DSS	O
manages	O
,	O
retrieves	O
,	O
and	O
manipulates	O
unstructured	B-Application
information	I-Application
in	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
electronic	O
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
knowledge-driven	O
DSS	O
provides	O
specialized	O
problem-solving	O
expertise	O
stored	O
as	O
facts	O
,	O
rules	O
,	O
procedures	O
or	O
in	O
similar	O
structures	O
like	O
interactive	B-General_Concept
decision	B-Algorithm
trees	I-Algorithm
and	O
flowcharts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
model-driven	O
DSS	O
emphasizes	O
access	O
to	O
and	O
manipulation	O
of	O
a	O
statistical	O
,	O
financial	O
,	O
optimization	O
,	O
or	O
simulation	B-Application
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Early	O
Framework	O
of	O
Decision	B-Application
Support	I-Application
System	I-Application
consists	O
of	O
four	O
phases	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
level	O
makes	O
use	O
of	O
case	O
tools	O
or	O
systems	O
such	O
as	O
Crystal	O
,	O
Analytica	B-Language
and	O
iThink	B-Language
.	O
</s>
