Abstract: A computer implemented method of pre-processing an input text for a natural language processing operation based on a training corpus of documents, can include accessing a set of stop words including predetermined words for de-emphasis in the text for the natural language processing operation, the set of stop words being separated into at least two subsets including a first subset and a second subset, the second subset containing stop words predetermined to be of potential semantic significance to documents in the training corpus; tokenizing documents in a training corpus to an ordered set of corpus tokens; removing, from the set of corpus tokens, tokens corresponding to stop words in the first subset of stop words; generating a set of n-grams by identifying n-grams from groups of tokens in the set of corpus tokens based on predetermined rules for n-gram identification; tokenizing the input text to an ordered set of input text tokens; identifying groups of tokens in the set of input text tokens corresponding t

Abstract: A computer implemented method of identifying one or more relationships between columns in a database by determining a subset of a set of all columns of all tables in the database, the columns in the subset satisfying predetermined primary key characteristics, each predetermined characteristic being defined by a rule for identifying a column as a potential primary key; identifying one or more relationships between columns in the subset and columns in the set of all columns based on each of: primary key and foreign key relationships between columns; and relationships between columns indicated in one or more scripts, each script including instructions for accessing the database.

Abstract: A computer implemented method of scheduling a plurality of virtual machines for execution by a physical computing infrastructure is described. The plurality of virtual machines are deployable to a subset of the physical computing infrastructure to execute a computing task. The method includes determining a subset of the infrastructure and a time period for deployment of each virtual machine, so that the virtual machines are scheduled to execute to completion over an aggregate of all time periods. The determination is based on a mathematical optimization of a risk function for each of the plurality virtual machines that corresponds to a relative risk that at least one virtual machine will fail to fully execute its task to completion.

Abstract: A computer implemented method of scheduling a plurality of virtual machines for execution by a physical computing infrastructure, each virtual machine being deployable to a subset of the physical computing infrastructure to execute a computing task, the method including determining, for each virtual machine, a subset of the infrastructure and a time period for deployment of the virtual machine, so as to schedule the virtual machines to execute to completion over an aggregate of all time periods, wherein the determination is based on a mathematical optimization of a risk function for each of the plurality virtual machines corresponding to a relative risk that at least one virtual machine will fail to fully execute its task to completion.

Abstract: A method for allocating resources of a group of resources to tasks of a group of tasks, the method comprising: forming a resource set comprising a resource record for each of the resources of the group of resources, each resource record having one or more fields representative of attributes of the respective resource; forming a task set comprising a task record for each of the tasks of the group of resources, each task record having one or more fields, each field holding data representative of an attribute of the respective task; condensing the task set by one or more iterations of the steps of: i. selecting two or more tasks of the task set; ii. adding to the task set an aggregate task record having one or more fields, each such field corresponding to a field of each of the task records of the selected tasks and holding data representative of the collective attributes of the task records of the selected tasks in those fields; and iii.

Abstract: A supply chain forecasting system enabling integrated risk assessment and forecasting of the impact of events on a supply chain comprising a processor adapted to receive, process and output data for a forecast, and a user interface adapted to enable a user to input parameters to facilitate processing of a forecast, wherein the user interface provides a user the ability to select an event which is likely to have an impact on an aspect of a supply chain and to view a visual representation of different types of impact over time of an event thereby enabling a user readily to understand the nature of the impact of an event on a supply chain and hence to select the most appropriate type of impact over time for an event.

Abstract: A method for allocating resources of a group of resources to tasks of a group of tasks, the method comprising: forming a resource set comprising a resource record for each of the resources of the group of resources, each resource record having one or more fields representative of attributes of the respective resource; forming a task set comprising a task record for each of the tasks of the group of resources, each task record having one or more fields, each field holding data representative of an attribute of the respective task; condensing the task set by one or more iterations of the steps of: i. selecting two or more tasks of the task set; ii. adding to the task set an aggregate task record having one or more fields, each such field corresponding to a field of each of the task records of the selected tasks and holding data representative of the collective attributes of the task records of the selected tasks in those fields; and iii.