[agents] IJAOSE special issue on Holonic Multi-Agent Systems

[hilaire]

Special issue on Holonic Multi-Agent Systems
of the International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software Engineering
guest editors: M. Cossentino (ICAR/CNR, Palermo),V. Hilaire (UTBM, 
Belfort),  A. Koukam (UTBM, Belfort), R. Mandiau (UVHC, Valenciennes)

Complex Systems are characterized by a large number of entities in 
interaction, exhibiting emergent behaviors. Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon 
states:
"Empirically a large proportion of the complex systems we observe in 
nature exhibit hierarchic structure. On theoretical grounds we could 
expect complex systems to be hierarchies in a world in which complexity 
had to evolve from simplicity." Simon (1996)
This asseveration about real-world Complex Systems raises the question, 
if nature has selected this path, should scientists trying to model 
Complex Systems privilege it too? In 1967 Arthur Koestler coined the 
term holon as an attempt to conciliate holistic and reductionist visions 
of the world. A holon represents a part-whole construct that can be seen 
as a component of a higher level system or as whole composed of other 
holons as substructures. This concept has proved to be successful in 
number of industrial domains such as manufacturing, real-time control, 
supply chain management, resource allocation, production 
planning/scheduling, air traffic, ….
Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) also stand out as a paradigm for the design of 
Complex Systems. Indeed, this paradigm proposes new strategies for the 
analysis, modelling and implementation of such systems. Its elementary 
constituents are called "agents", i.e. software entities which exhibit 
autonomous and flexible behaviours. Holonic Multi-Agent Systems (HMAS) 
descend from the adoption of both the MAS and the holon concepts in a 
novel approach. In HMAS, agents are looked at under a recursive or 
composed perspective thus providing a novel paradigm for managing, 
modelling and supporting complex systems.
In this special issue we are interested in these hierarchical structures 
applied to the analysis and modelling of Complex Systems. More 
precisely, we explore the requirements and consequences of modelling 
complex systems using holonic multi-agent approaches.

The aim of this special issue is to review on HMAS and to compare MAS 
and HMAS and to bring some light on what problems need a hierarchical 
structure (in the Simon sense) to be solved. Eventually, we aim to 
refine these solutions by studying which models, platforms and languages 
are fitted for HMAS.
To summarize, specific topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
- Theoretical differences and similarities between the concept of holons 
and agents
- Holonic multi-agent organization
- Standardization issues, communication and interactions models
- Methodologies and frameworks for modelling HMAS,
- Platforms and Languages
- Applications and tools for implementation/simulation of HMAS
- Formal approaches for HMAS

Authors are invited to submit research contributions or critiques of 
practical experience. Papers (in English) should not exceed 20 pages in 
IJAOSE format . All papers are refereed through a double review for 
publication in the International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software 
Engineering  (IJAOSE).

IMPORTANT DATES
* Deadline for submissions: December 1, 2009
* Notifications: March 1, 2010
* Deadline for revisions: May 1, 2010
* Publication: Begin 2011

Please contact the guest editors with any queries:
* Vincent Hilaire, UTBM, France –  vincent.hilaire at utbm.fr
* René Mandiau, UVHC, France – rene.mandiau at univ-valenciennes.fr
* M. Cossentino, CNR, Italy – cossentino at pa.icar.cnr.it
*A. Koukam, UTBM, France – abder.koukam at utbm.fr