EMAS 2015

3rd Workshop on Engineering Multi-Agent Systems

Istanbul, Turkey, 05/05/2015–06/05/2015

The engineering of multi-agent systems (MAS) is a complex activity.
These systems consist of multiple autonomous and heterogeneous agents, and the system's proper behavior depends on the effective interaction of these agents. MAS have been used to a certain extent in industry to realize self-* solutions, but a wider adoption is hindered by the fact that the engineering techniques for building these systems are not as mature as main-stream software engineering techniques. Numerous challenges have to be addressed:

Design abstractions; how to effectively design agents and their interactions?
Self-* capabilities; how to conceive and deliver self-* capabilities within new or existing solutions?
Implementation solutions; how to effectively implement multi-agent coordination or organizations?
Verification techniques; how to formally verify (un)desired properties of individual agents and MAS?

These challenges can be tackled more effectively when considered together within the overarching discipline of MAS engineering. For example, design artifacts (e.g., agent or MAS models) can be used to support and assist with debugging and testing. Another example is the de-
velopment of agent-oriented programming languages that result in programs that are more readily verifiable. A final example is the use of declarative techniques for the design and implementation of self-* systems.

The International Workshop on Engineering Multi-Agent Systems (EMAS) is the ideal venue for papers that relate to all aspects of agents and MAS engineering. EMAS was created in 2013 as a merger of three separate workshops (with overlapping communities) that focus on software en-
gineering aspects (AOSE), programming aspects (ProMAS), and application of declarative techniques to design, programming and verification (DALT). The EMAS community welcomes papers that describe lessons learned and engineering challenges and solutions identified in building and deploying multi-agent systems.

topics of interest

The EMAS workshop aims to:

Progress and further develop the understanding of how to engineer multi-agent systems.
Bring together the communities that are concerned with the different aspects of engineering multi-agent systems, and by doing so, allow for a better interchange of ideas among communities, thus exploiting new and consolidated synergies.
Attract papers that report on experiences and lessons learned from innovative applications of MAS.
Provide a "natural fit" for papers that describe innovative ideas, solutions, and applications.
Investigate the use of MAS for the conception, implementation, and deployment of self-* systems.

We thus call for papers that are concerned with any aspect of the engineering of multi-agent systems. The list of topics includes but is not limited to:

Programming frameworks, languages, models and abstractions for MAS
- cognitive notions such as beliefs, goals, plans
- social, organizational, and normative aspects
- agent coordination
- agent communication, trust, commitments, and reputation
- contracts, negotiation policies
- mobile agents

Formal methods and declarative technologies for specification, verification and engineering of MAS
- semantics of multi-agent programming languages
- modal and epistemic logics for agent modeling
- game theory for multi-agent systems
- semantics of agent communication
- logic programming-based approaches for agent systems
- distributed constraint satisfaction
- declarative approaches to engineering agent-based systems
- high-level executable multi-agent specification languages
- algorithms for multi-agent programming (e.g., coordination, cooperation, negotiation)

MAS software engineering methodologies and techniques, and development concerns
- software architectures for multi-agent systems
- qualities and tradeoffs of agent-based architectures
- goal-oriented design
- reusable design knowledge: patterns and reference architectures
- modeling languages for agents and MAS
- testing of agent-based software
- fault tolerance and load balancing for mobile MAS
- safety and security for mobile MAS deployment
- autonomy vs. dependability and robustness
- security and trust in multi-agent systems

Interoperability and integration
- interoperability and standards for MAS
- standardization efforts for multi-agent systems
- integration of multi-agent and mainstream technologies
- integration of agents with legacy systems
- middleware integration of agent-based software
- implications of agent-based solutions on system development

Tools and testbeds
- benchmarks and testbeds for comparing multi-agent programming languages and tools
- CASE tools for agent-oriented software development
- agent/environment/interaction/organization development tools and platforms
- generic tools and infrastructures for multi-agent programming
- coordination infrastructures for multi-agent systems

Using MAS techniques for
- engineering self-* systems
- autonomic solutions
- systems of systems
- (semantic) service-oriented architectures
- multi-agent based simulation
- social engineering
- concurrent and distributed systems
- grid computing
- pervasive computing
- mobile/distributed applications

Empirical studies and (industrial) experience reports on engineering MAS applications for
- e-health
- e-commerce
- e-learning
- socio-technical systems
- social networks
- (human-)robot systems
- big data
- crowd-based applications

hosting event