Keynote Speech

 

 

Multiagent Computing for Complex Applications

 

Brahim Chaib-draa

Computer Science & Software Engineering Department

Université Laval, Canada

 

 

 

 

Abstract

Autonomous agents are computer systems that are capable of independent action in open, unpredictable environments.  Nowadays, they are considered as a new paradigm for developing software applications and many sub-fields of computer science and artificial intelligence are focusing on this new paradigm with an intense interest.  In fact, agent technology is becoming one of the most important and exciting areas of research and development in computer science today.  This technology is a significant approach for applications such as telecommunications, information management and Internet, electronic commerce, computer games, information retrieval and filtering, user interface design, industrial process control, open systems, etc.  The successful adoption of this technology in all these areas will have a profound impact both on industries and also on the way in which future computer systems will be conceptualized and implemented.  Since concurrent and distributed systems are very common nowadays, it becomes obvious that a single autonomous agent is insufficient.  Many applications, if not all, require multiple autonomous agents, called also Multiagent Systems.  In such computing systems, knowledge, action and control are distributed among the agents, which may cooperate, compete or coexist depending on the context. 

 

Creating a successful and productive multiagent computing is a difficult task, mainly due to the following: (1) the problems of task allocation and coordination among agents; (2) the problem of the environment surrounding the agents which is inaccessible, non-deterministic and dynamic; (3) the problem of formation of coalitions and teams of agents, and; (4) the problem of multiagent learning.  This presentation will explore these issues through some complex applications such as (1) coalitions of software agents for group buying; (2) Peloton of intelligent cars; (3) the bullwhip effect in the e-supply chain, and (4) Roborescue. 

 

Finally, the presentation will attempt to give an overview for how to envision multiagent computing technology in the future and particularly in the context of the semantic web and supply chain. 

 

 

Biography:

B. Chaib-Draa received the Ingénieur degree from École Supérieure d'Électricité (SUPELEC) Paris (France) in 1978 and the Ph.D. degree from Université du Hainaut-Cambrésis, Valenciennes (France) in 1990.  He has been involved in many projects in Europe, Africa and in North America.  In 1990, he joined the Computer Science & Software Engineering (CSSE) Department of Laval University, Ste-Foy, PQ, Canada, where he is Professor and Leader of the Dialogues, Agent, and Multi-Agents (DAMAS) group.  His web page is http//www.damas.ift.ulaval.ca/~chaib.