E4MAS 2005

2nd International Workshop on Environments for Multi-Agent Systems

Utrecht, The Netherlands, 25/07/2005

In the past two years the environment in multiagent systems has become increasingly important and is now becoming a focus of research in its own right. Yet, the environment in multiagent systems has been studied before. So the obvious question then is: Why does the environment attract the attention of a broader community of researchers right now?
The answer to this question is manifold. First, current research on environments is built on the receptive ground of early work. Pioneers such as Demazeau, Parunak, Ferber, Odell, Omicini and Zambonelli have been stressing the importance of the environment in multiagent systems for almost a decade.
Second, current research on environments is well organized. The workshop series on Environments for Multiagent Systems (E4MAS) provides the breeding ground for coordinating research on environments. E4MAS provides an active forum for discussion and exchange of ideas. The constructive atmosphere of the E4MAS workshops and the critical attitude of the attendees stimulate research in the growing community.
Third, researchers interested in environments come from various backgrounds. The notion of environment exceeds specific types of agency. The environment is important for simple ant-like agents as well as for complex cognitive agents. The environment provides a challenging area for synergetic research on multiagent systems in general.
And last but not least, the perspective on the role of the environment in multiagent systems has undergone a fundamental change in the last two years. Whereas environment and “infrastructure” are traditionally considered equivalent, recent research considers the environment as a first-order design abstraction in multiagent systems. Several researchers have demonstrated that the environment provides a building block that can be used creatively in the design of multiagent system applications. Distinguishing between agent and environment responsibilities supports separation of concerns in multiagent systems, which is a prerequisite for good engineering practice.
The second E4MAS Workshop aims at reprenting the full life-cycle of environment engineering, including theoretical analysis, models, mechanisms, architecture and design, and applications.

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