Decision Support Systems

Decision Support Systems can be defined as a computer based information system that aids a decision maker in taking decisions for semi-structured problems.

Because of the continuously growing number of different types of computer based systems it is important to distinguish among them and position Decision Support Systems within the family of information systems used by decision makers.

The concept of decision support has evolved from two main areas of research; the theoretical studies of organization decision making done at the Carnegie Institute of Technology during the late 1950s and early 1960s and the technological work on interactive computer system carried at MIT in the 1960s.

Experts view a Decision Support Systems as a system that extendable, capable of supporting ad hoc analysis and decision, oriented towards future planning and being used at irregular, unplanned intervals. 

Decision Support Systems have evolved to encompass multi-component systems that include various combinations of simulation modeling, optimization techniques, heuristics, and artificial intelligence techniques, geographic information system (GIS), associated databases for calibration and execution and user interface components.
Decision Support Systems