Integrating BPMN with DMN to model complex Public Services: The case of Getting a Transportation Card for Disabled in Greece

Abstract

The provision of high-quality Public Services (PSs) constitutes a core activity of the public sector. Consequently, PS modeling has received considerable attention. The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a standard often employed in PS modeling. BPMN diagrams are clear and understandable in the case of simple PSs. However, this is not true when modeling complex PSs i.e., those including a large number of versions. Different versions exist in a complex PS since, for example, different groups of citizens may have to submit different supporting documents with their application based on their financial or civil status. In those cases, the relevant BPMN diagrams often have numerous gateways thus becoming very complex, which hinders their applicability and usefulness. In the last few years, the Decision Model and Notation (DMN) has been introduced and its integration with BPMN is used for modeling complicated business processes in the private sector. However, its effectiveness has not been investigated in the case of complex PSs. The aim of this research is to investigate the benefits and challenges of modeling complex PSs using BPMN and DMN. For this purpose, the Greek PS "Getting a Transportation Card for Disabled" is analyzed and BPMN is used to model the PS in two different ways, one with and one without the use of DMN. The results suggest that DMN models provide useful insights into the different PS versions while BPMN diagrams become simpler and more understandable. On the other hand, the public sector needs to accommodate yet another modeling notation which increases the required human capital needed for PS modeling.