Editing Decision support system (section)

==Applications==
DSS can theoretically be built in any knowledge domain. One example is the [[clinical decision support system]] for [[medical diagnosis]]. There are four stages in the evolution of clinical decision support system (CDSS): the primitive version is standalone and does not support integration; the second generation supports integration with other medical systems; the third is standard-based, and the fourth is service model-based.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wright|first=A|author-link2=Dean F. Sittig|author2=Sittig, D|title=A framework and model for evaluating clinical decision support architectures q|journal=Journal of Biomedical Informatics|date=2008|volume=41|issue=6|pages=982–990|doi=10.1016/j.jbi.2008.03.009|pmid=18462999|pmc=2638589}}</ref>

DSS is extensively used in business and management. [[Executive dashboard]] and other business performance software allow faster decision making, identification of negative trends, and better allocation of business resources. Due to DSS, all the information from any organization is represented in the form of charts, graphs i.e. in a summarized way, which helps the management to take strategic decisions. For example, one of the DSS applications is the management and development of complex anti-terrorism systems.<ref name = "Zhang & Babovic">{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=S.X. |last2=Babovic |first2=V. |year=2011 |title=An evolutionary real options framework for the design and management of projects and systems with complex real options and exercising conditions |journal=Decision Support Systems |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=119–129 |doi= 10.1016/j.dss.2010.12.001|s2cid=15362734 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220197192}}</ref> Other examples include a bank loan officer verifying the credit of a loan applicant or an engineering firm that has bids on several projects and wants to know if they can be competitive with their costs.

{{anchor|Agriculture}}A growing area of DSS application, concepts, principles, and techniques is in [[agriculture|agricultural production]], marketing for [[sustainable development]]. Agricultural DSSes began to be developed and promoted in the 1990s.<ref name="Papadopoulos-et-al-1995">{{cite journal | last1=Papadopoulos | first1=A.P. | last2=Shipp | first2=J.L | last3=Jarvis | first3=William R. | last4=Jewett | first4=Thomas J. | last5=Clarke | first5=N.D. | title=The Harrow Expert System for Greenhouse Vegetables | journal=[[HortScience]] | publisher=[[American Society for Horticultural Science]] | volume=30 | issue=4 | date=1995-07-01 | issn=0018-5345 | doi=10.21273/HORTSCI.30.4.846F | pages=846F–847| doi-access=free }}</ref> For example, the [[DSSAT|DSSAT4]] package,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aglearn.net/resources/isfm/DSSAT.pdf |title=DSSAT4 (pdf) |access-date=29 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927095526/http://www.aglearn.net/resources/isfm/DSSAT.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer<ref name="DSSAT-net">{{cite web | title=Official Home of the DSSAT Cropping Systems Model | website=DSSAT.net | url=http://dssat.net/ | access-date=2021-08-19}}</ref> developed through financial support of [[USAID]] during the 1980s{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} and 1990s, has allowed rapid assessment of several agricultural production systems around the world to facilitate decision-making at the farm and policy levels. [[Precision agriculture]] seeks to tailor decisions to particular portions of farm fields. There are, however, many constraints to the successful adoption of DSS in agriculture.<ref>Stephens, W. and Middleton, T. (2002). Why has the uptake of Decision Support Systems been so poor? In: Crop-soil simulation models in developing countries. 129-148 (Eds R.B. Matthews and William Stephens). Wallingford:CABI.</ref>

DSS is also prevalent in [[forest management]] where the long planning horizon and the spatial dimension of planning problems demand specific requirements. All aspects of Forest management, from log transportation, harvest scheduling to sustainability and ecosystem protection have been addressed by modern DSSs. In this context, the consideration of single or multiple management objectives related to the provision of goods and services that are traded or non-traded and often subject to resource constraints and decision problems. The Community of Practice of Forest Management Decision Support Systems provides a large repository on knowledge about the construction and use of forest Decision Support Systems.<ref>Community of Practice Forest Management Decision Support Systems, http://www.forestdss.org/</ref>
 
A specific example concerns the [[Canadian National Railway]] system, which tests its equipment on a regular basis using a decision support system. A problem faced by any [[railroad]] is worn-out or defective rails, which can result in hundreds of [[derailment]]s per year. Under a DSS, the Canadian National Railway system managed to decrease the incidence of derailments at the same time other companies were experiencing an increase.

DSS has been used for risk assessment to interpret monitoring data from large engineering structures such as dams, towers, cathedrals, or masonry buildings. For instance, Mistral is an expert system to monitor dam safety, developed in the 1990s by Ismes (Italy). It gets data from an automatic monitoring system and performs a diagnosis of the state of the dam. Its first copy, installed in 1992 on the [[Ridracoli]] Dam (Italy), is still operational 24/7/365.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Salvaneschi|first1=Paolo|first2=Mauro|last2=Cadei|first3=Marco|last3=Lazzari|title=Applying AI to structural safety monitoring and evaluation|journal=IEEE Expert|year=1996|volume=11|issue=4|pages=24–34|url=http://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/ex/1996/04/x4024-abs.html|access-date=5 March 2014|doi=10.1109/64.511774}}</ref> It has been installed on several dams in Italy and abroad (e.g., [[Itaipu Dam]] in Brazil),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://beta.cbdb.org.br/system/uploads/artigo_evento/documento/16/ID-18.docx|title=Integrated approach to dam safety|website=Comitê Brasileiro de Barragens |access-date=16 December 2020 | last1=Masera | first1=Alberto |display-authors=etal }}</ref> and on monuments under the name of Kaleidos.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lancini|first1=Stefano|first2=Marco|last2=Lazzari|first3=Alberto|last3=Masera|first4=Paolo|last4=Salvaneschi|title=Diagnosing Ancient Monuments with Expert Software|journal= Structural Engineering International|year=1997|volume=7|issue=4|pages=288–291|url=http://dinamico2.unibg.it/lazzari/doc/structural-engineering-authors-copy.pdf|doi=10.2749/101686697780494392}}</ref> Mistral is a registered trade mark of [[Centro Elettrotecnico Sperimentale Italiano|CESI]]. [[GIS]] has been successfully used since the '90s in conjunction with DSS, to show on a map real-time risk evaluations based on monitoring data gathered in the area of the [[Val Pola landslide|Val Pola disaster]] (Italy).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lazzari|first1=M.|last2=Salvaneschi|first2=P.|date=1999|title=Embedding a Geographic Information System in a Decision Support System for Landslide Hazard Monitoring|url=https://dinamico2.unibg.it/lazzari/doc/embedding-authors-copy.pdf|journal=Natural Hazards|volume=20|issue=2–3|pages=185–195|doi=10.1023/A:1008187024768|bibcode=1999NatHa..20..185L |s2cid=1746570}}</ref>