In open societies of agents, where agents are autonomous and heterogeneous, it is not realistic to assume that agents will always act so as to comply to interaction protocols. Thus, the need arises for a formalism to specify constraints on agent interaction, and for a tool able to observe and check for agent compliance to interaction protocols. In this paper we present a Java-Prolog software component which can be used to verify compliance of agent interaction to protocols written in a logicbased formalism (Social Integrity Constraints). 1

In this paper we discuss how to combine a multiview use-case driven method for the requirement specification of a system with an agent-oriented method for developing a working prototype. The rationale behind this combination is to cover the complete software development cycle, while the two methods it originates from only cover a part of it. The prototype execution allows to obtain useful feedbacks on the coherence of the UML artifacts produced during the requirement specification phase.

Negotiation events in industrial procurement involving multiple, highly customisable goods pose serious challenges to buying agents when trying to determine the best set of providing agents ’ offers. Typically, a buying agent’s decision involves a large variety of constraints that may involve attributes of a very same item as well as attributes of multiple items. In this paper we describe iBundler, an agent-aware negotiation service to solve the winner determination problem considering buyers’ and providers ’ constraints and preferences. 1.

Abstract. In this paper, we present a model of agents which use argumentation to select and compose services in open and distributed environments. For this purpose, we propose a modular agent architecture using three main modules, dedicated, respectively, to decision making, communication, and negotiation. We deploy a simple “virtual ” travel agent example to illustrate how our agents select and compose services, focusing on the functionalities of the modules within the agents. 1

Current electronic commerce applications such as online auction systems are not trustworthy due to a lack of effective trust management mechanisms. A trustworthy online auction system requires a dynamic trust management module that can detect abnormal bidding activities in real-time, notify the involved users, and cancel the corresponding auction immediately. In this paper, we present a general framework for agentbased trust management (ATM) in online auctions. The ATM module consists of three types of agents, namely the monitoring agent, the analysis agent and the security agent. A monitoring agent can monitor a bidder and detect any abnormal bidding behavior; while the analysis agent and the security agent can analyze state-based information and history information of a bidder, and make decisions on shill detection, respectively. We illustrate the communication protocol among various agents, and demonstrate our agent-based trust management approach for online auctions using a prototype ATM module developed with JADE. 1.

This paper presents work carried out within the `ExPlanTech' project (IST-199920171) funded in part by the European Commission's Information Technologies Programme. The mission of the ExPlanTech technology transfer project is to introduce, customize and exploit the multi-agent production planning technology (ProPlanT multi-agent system research prototype) in two specific industrial enterprises. An agent driven service negotiations and decision process based on usage-centred knowledge about task requirements substitutes the traditional production planning activity. We introduce methodology for integration of the project-driven production planning based on agent-based engineering within the existing enterprise resource planning system.

Abstract. The social and organisational aspects of agency have have become nowadays a major focus of interest in the MAS community, and a good amount of theoretical work is available, in terms of formal models and theories. However, the conception and engineering of proper organisational infrastructures embodying such models and theories is still an open issue, in particular when open MAS are considered. Accordingly, in this paper we discuss a model for an organisational infrastructure called ORA4MAS that aims at addressing these issues. By being based on the A&A (Agents and Artifacts) meta-model, the key and novel aspect introduced with ORA4MAS is that organisations and the organisation infrastructure itself are conceived in terms of agents and artifacts, as first-class basic abstractions giving body to the MAS from design to runtime. This is in analogy with human organisation and organisation infrastructures, that are populated by humans (as participants and part of the organisation machinery), and by rich sets of artifacts and tools that humans use to support their activities inside the organisation and the organisation itself, encapsulating essential infrastructure services. Keywords: Multi-agent Systems, MAS organisations, Open systems, Artifacts.

This paper describes DCaseLP, a multi-language prototyping environment for Multi-Agent Systems. DCaseLP provides tools, languages, and methodological suggestions for engineering a MAS prototype from the late requirement analysis to the prototype implementation and testing. Full support for validating the MAS model by running the prototype in the JADE platform is offered. DCaseLP and its ancestor, CaseLP, have been employed to develop many applications in collaboration with Italian companies, thus demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Abstract. Our overall aim is to provide a verification framework for practical multi-agent systems. To achieve practicality, we must be able to describe and implement heterogeneous multi-agent systems. To achieve verifiability, we must define semantics appropriately for use in formal verification. Thus, in this paper, we tackle the problem of implementing heterogeneous multi-agent systems in a semantically clear, and appropriate, way. 1

Abstract. There is an increasing need of methodologies and software tools that ease the development of applications where distributed heterogeneous entities can participate. Multi-agent systems, and electronic institutions in particular, can play a main role on the development of this type of systems. Electronic institutions define the rules of the game in agent societies, by fixing what agents are permitted and forbidden to do and under what circumstances. The goal of this paper is to introduce an integrated development environment that supports the engineering of electronic institutions.