Regulation of Multi-Agent Systems

There will be an interesting workshop on the regulation of multi-agent systems entitled "Agents, Norms and Institutions for Regulated Multiagent Systems" at the 2005 Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems in July in Utrecht, The Netherlands. As the workshop blurb notes:

Multi-agent systems are often understood as complex entities where amultitude of agents interact, usually with some intended individual or collective purpose. Such a view usually assumes some form of structure,or set of norms or conventions that articulate or restrain interactions in order to make them more effective in attaining those goals, more certain for participants or more predictable. The engineering of effective regulatory mechanisms is a key problem for the design of open complex multi-agent systems, so that in recent years it has become a rich and challenging topic for research and development.

Of the many possible ways of looking at the problem of regulating multi-agent systems, this workshop focuses on a normative approach, based on the use of Norms in Artificial Institutions. Lately there has been an explosion of new approaches, both theoretical and practical, exploring the use of norms as a flexible way to constrain and/or impose behaviour and these are reflected in specifications of norm languages, agent-mediated electronic institutions, contracts, protocols and policies.

The workshop invites specialists from various fields to discuss conceptual, formal and technical aspects that bear upon theformalization, design, construction and deployment of regulated multi-agent systems. The workshop intends to bring together active researchers to present and debate recent developments.

See the workshop web page for further details.