Urban decision support systems
Introduction
The concept of decision support system (DSS for its acronym in English Decision Support System) is very broad, because there are many approaches to decision making and because of the wide range of areas in which they are made. These support systems are of the OLAP or data mining type, which provide information and support to make a decision.
A DSS can take many different forms. In general, we can say that a DSS is a computer system used to support, rather than automate, the decision-making process. The decision is a choice between alternatives based on estimates of the values of those alternatives. Decision support means helping people working alone or in groups gather intelligence, generate alternatives, and make decisions. Supporting the decision-making process involves supporting the estimation, evaluation and/or comparison of alternatives. In practice, references to DSS are usually references to computer applications that perform a supporting function.[1].
Definitions
El término sistema de soporte a la decisión se ha utilizado de formas muy diversas y se ha definido de diferentes maneras dependiendo del punto de vista del autor.[2] Algunas de esas definiciones son:.
• - Un DSS, en términos muy generales, es "un sistema basado en computador que ayuda en el proceso de toma de decisiones" (Finlay[3] y otros).
• - In much more specific terms, a DSS is "an information system based on an interactive, flexible and adaptable computer, specially developed to support the solution of an unstructured management problem to improve decision making. It uses data, provides a friendly interface and allows decision making in the analysis of the situation itself" (Turban[4]).
Other intermediate definitions between the previous two would be:
• - A DSS is a “set of model-based procedures for processing data and judgments to assist a manager in his or her decision making” (Little[5]).
• - A DSS "combines individual intellectual resources with the capabilities of a computer to improve the quality of decisions (they are a computer support for decision makers on semi-structured problems)" (Keen[6]).
• - "Extensible system capable of supporting data analysis and decision modeling, oriented towards future planning and used at irregular, unplanned intervals" ().