The role of Intelligent Decision Support Systems in sustainability. An end-user experience

The paper presents a preliminary analysis of some intelligent decision support systems for sustainability from the point of view of the end user experience, by comparing up to four available systems. The role that these kind of ICT tools play on the improvement of several sustainability goals in different scenarios is analyzed as well. The problem tackled in the paper has a double dimension. On the one hand, the lack of a complete state of the art in the area of intelligent decision support systems (IDSS), specifically regarding real systems, and more concretely, IDSS relevant in the area of sustainability. On the other hand, the difficulties to develop skills on intelligent decision support systems in students that are not directly linked to computer science degrees, and in particularly to sustainability students, given the broad corpus of knowledge related with the discipline and the high technological and multidisciplinary contents involved in the area. The paper presents a methodological proposal to both built in a collaborative way a state of the art in Intelligent Sustainability Decision Support Systems and design learning activities valid in a master course of Intelligent Decision Support Systems for master students on Sustainability.The results of this research are the outcome of an innovative methodology for teaching Intelligent Decision Support Systems to students of a master on Sustainability given at the UPC and a preliminary version of a catalogue of real applications ongoing. The interest of the proposal from the educational point of view is that in short time it empowers students not necessarily skilled in ICT to get a useful overview of what intelligent decision support systems are and how they can be used in their professional practices.