Constructivist Knowledge Engineering with CoKE

European Business Rules Conference -
The Zürich Renaissance Hotel - June 26 - 27, 2002

Building a Rule-Based Expert System with the CoKE constructivist methodology

Marco C. Bettoni Basel University of Applied Sciences (FHBB)
Georges Fuhrer Finanz- und Kirchendirektion Baselland (FKD BL)

Abstract

In realising ATA (deployed January 2002), a Tax Return Assessment Rule-Based Expert System - the first automated tax return assessment in Switzerland - we applied a new knowledge engineering methodology based on a constructivist understanding of knowledge and cognition.

As first we present the ATA case study which shows how business rules automation is being used in automating the core process of Tax Return Assessment (TRA) at the Internal Revenue Service (Ministry of Finance) of the Canton of Baselland.
Then we sketch the new understanding of knowledge that is the kernel of the constructivist knowledge engineering methodology (CoKE) we applied in this project.
Finally we explain how CoKE has been applied in this project for modeling the knowledge of assessment experts and for implementing it in the ATA system.