The BIC Model – Towards Business Oriented Information Contexts

Increasingly complex products and business models require support of increasingly complex information. In this paper we propose a new approach BIC, Business Information Context, to define contexts for accessing, viewing, and managing this complex information. BIC structures information based on key domains: business drivers, business processes, information entities, product characteristics, and information systems. We compare BIC with other and simpler approaches, like views and contexts used in the ISO 10303 (STEP) standards, design methodologies, and PLM systems. We illustrate the definition and use of BIC with an implementation of an application for protecting a company's intellectual property.