RMAS-2003

 CALL FOR PAPERS
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C A L L   F O
R   P A P E R S
A Session on
REPRESENTING MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS (RMAS-2003)
(Proceedings to be published
by Springer-Verlag)
to be held at the
MULTI CONFERENCE ON
SYSTEMICS,
CYBERNETICS AND INFORMATICS (SCI2003)
http://www.iiis.org/sci2003/
to be held in Orlando,
Florida at the end of July 2003
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INTRODUCTION
Multi-Agent
Systems (MAS) are often characterized as extensions of object-oriented systems.
This overly simplified view has often troubled system designers as they try to
capture the unique features of MAS systems using OO tools. In recent years, we
have seen MAS systems slowly transit from experimental 'toy
problems' in universities to real-life
applications. Real-life implementations of complex MAS systems will not be
successful if the means to model and represent these systems fail to capture
and communicate their underlying meaning and complexity. A major research topic
in computer science over at least the past two decades has been the development
of tools and techniques to model and understand automated systems, in general.  With the advent of large multiagent
systems, similar techniques should be explored for MAS.
In this
session we will seek to gain an insight into how agent-oriented software
engineering can benefit from UML and other modeling languages. New approaches
have already emerged already based on work done in software engineering. For
example, designers have begun to use and to extend the Unified Modeling
Language (UML) to represent agents and their interactions. At present, there
exist different alternatives all based on UML: Agent UML (AUML), AOR, PASSI,
and Tropos.
The format
of this session will involve both presentation and discussion. The ideal should
be that a unification of the different approaches arises from this
confrontation during the workshop.
The session will focus on problems and notation extensions needed to
support modeling of autonomous agents systems. Although we are emphasizing on
AUML, alternative notations and describing tools will be welcomed. In our
session as for the general conference papers may comprise of research work,
generic reviews, position papers or simply reports on ideas.
TOPICS
OF INTEREST
We welcome
the submission of all papers on aspects of usage of UML for agent-based system
engineering, including:
*
Methodologies for agent-based analysis and design
* UML and
agent systems;
* Code
generation from UML specification
*
Agent-based requirements analysis and specification
*
Refinement and synthesis techniques for agent-based specifications
* Verification
and validation techniques for agent-based systems
* Software
development environments and CASE tools
* Formal
methods for agent-based systems, including specification and verification
logics
*
Engineering large-scale agent systems
*
Experiences with field-tested agent systems
*
Definition of semantic information based on UML (e.g., Ontologies, Semantic
Web)
* Re-use
approaches for agent-based systems, including design patterns, frameworks,
components, and architectures
Hope to
see you in SCI2003, when we can debate the many issues that impact modeling of
MAS.
SESSION
INFORMATION:
Expected
Participants:
Participation
of both, researchers and practitioners is strongly encouraged. Papers may be
submitted on: research in science and engineering, case studies drawn on
professional practice and consulting, and position papers based on large and
rich experience gained through executive/managerial practices and
decision-making. For this reason, the Program Committee is conformed according
to the criteria given above.
Paper
Submission:
Extended
abstracts or paper drafts should be sent taking into account the following:
1. Major
theme of the paper, related to the major themes given above.
2. Paper
title.
3. Extended
abstract of 500 to 1500 words and/or paper drafts of 2000 to 5000 words, in
English.
4. Authors
and/or co-authors with names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail
addresses.
Extended
abstracts or paper drafts should be sent to the session organizers at rmas2003@AUML.org
DEADLINES:
January 30th,
2003: Submission of extended abstracts (500-1500 words) or paper drafts
(2000-5000 words).
March 1st,
2003: Acceptance notifications.
April 05th,
2003: Submission of camera-ready papers: hard copies and electronic versions.
ORGANIZING
COMMITTEE
Co-chairs:
Renato Levy
Intelligent Automation, Inc., Rockville, MD USA
email: rlevy@i-a-i.com
James Odell
James
Odell Associates, Ann Arbor, MI USA
email: rmas2003@jamesodell.com
PROGRAM
COMMITTEE
Bernhard Bauer (Germany)
Federico Bergenti (Italy)
Stephen Cranefield (New Zealand)
Scott A. DeLoach (USA)
Brian
Henderson-Sellers (Australia)
Mark-Philippe Huget (UK)
John Mylopoulos (Canada)
Makoto Okada (Japan)
Andrea Omicini (Italy)
Paola Turci (Italy)