The use of the i*(iStar) framework by the requirements engineering community is many-fold. Among the several possible engineering cases, we are particularly interested here in the joint use of i*with other modelling frameworks to obtain what we call i*-based frameworks. In this context, several challenges need to be overcome: theoretical, technical, methodological and community-related. In this paper, we review current i*-based frameworks under several possible scenarios and observe that not all of these challenges are always addressed, and even more, there is lack of guidelines or well-accepted methodological design steps on how to overcome these issues. Then, we detail the several engineering artifacts and techniques whose consideration in i*-based frameworks may help to overcome them. To illustrate the vision, we present the case of combining i*with data warehouse models, from the initial definition of the ontology to the final implementation using profiles. Finally, we provide a research agenda to apply the proposed vision including a final reflection on defining a maturity model as a convenient way to support forthcoming research in the topic.

The mobile office devices market is currently growing, mainly due to the descending cost of wireless technology as well as the high diversity of functions and features covered. Diversity and proliferation become a hard problem when a person or organization aims at selecting the appropriate device for their particular needs. We propose here a framework for producing device recommendations based on personal or business needs. The framework is articulated through an architecture that includes subsystems for data extraction, recommendation and personalization. All these subsystems operate upon a goal-oriented knowledge base whose presentation is the subject of this paper. Our approach is built upon three independent models: a market model, which contains descriptions of the current devices offered in the marketplace; a domain model, which states the needs of the person or organization; a mediator model, which describes the types of devices available. We show the actors and processes around these models. Last, we present a prototype that acts as proof-of-concept of the recommender system.

Goal- and agent-oriented models have become a consolidated type of artifact in various software and knowledge engineering activities. Several languages exist for representing such type of models but there is a lack of associated methodologies for guiding their construction up to the necessary level of detail. In this paper we present RiSD, a method for building Strategic Dependency (SD) models in the i* notation. RiSD is defined in a prescriptive way to reduce uncertainness when constructing the model. RiSD tackles three fundamental issues: (1) it tends to reduce the average size of the resulting models; (2) it defines some traceability relationships among model elements; (3) it provides some lexical and syntactical conventions. As a result, we may say that RiSD supports the construction process of goal- and agent-oriented models whilst increasing their understanding.