Decision Support Systems

Synonyms

Knowledge based systems

Definition

A decision support system (DSS) is a computer-based system that combines data and decision logic as a tool for assisting a human decision-maker. It usually includes a user interface for communicating with the decision-maker. A DSS does not actually make a decision, but instead assists the human decision-maker by analyzing data and presenting processed information in a form that is friendly to the decision-maker.

Main Text

Decision systems are typically combination of rule sets and decision logic (a “decision engine”) that operate on particular data contained within a specified database. The data in the database are processed and arranged in such a way to be accessible to the decision engine. The decision engine may aggregate various data to form usable information for the decision-maker, or it may search the data to find meaningful patterns that may also be useful.

Decision support systems (DSS) are increasingly being combined with geographic...