DM: Journal CFP: Information Agents - Theory & Applications

[Matthias Klusch]

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                      2nd  CALL FOR PAPERS

==================================================================
     Special Double Issue of the International Journal on
            Cooperative Information Systems



             INTELLIGENT INFORMATION AGENTS:

                THEORY AND APPLICATIONS



  Guest Editor:

  Matthias Klusch
  Deduction and Multi-Agent Systems Lab
  German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence Ltd., Germany


==================================================================

        http://www.dfki.de/~klusch/JCISspecial.html


IMPORTANT DATES
***************

-  Submission of Manuscripts:     NOVEMBER 25, 1999

-  Notification of Acceptance:    March 30, 2000

-  Publication of Special Issue due to:  End of the year 2000


SCOPE & TOPICS
**************

This special double issue of the International Journal on Cooperative
Information Systems is devoted to advances in theory and 
applications of intelligent information agents.

Roughly speaking, an information agent is a computational software 
entity
that has access to one or multiple, heterogeneous and geographically
distributed
information sources; it pro-actively searches for and maintains 
relevant
information on behalf of users or other agents preferably in a 
just-in-time fashion.
Such an agent is supposed to satisfy one or multiple of following
requirements:

* Information acquisition and management, i.e.,
  it may monitor, update, and provide transparent access to one or 
many different
  information sources, retrieve, extract, analyze and filter data
(including semi-structured   or even unstructured data).
* Information synthesis and presentation, that is, it is able to 
integrate heterogeneous
  data and to provide unified (and multi-dimensional) views on data.
* Intelligent user assistance by being able, for example to 
dynamically adapt   to user preferences, any kind of changes in 
information and network environment.
  It may provide convenient individual interactive assistance for 
everyday business on
  the Internet such as a life-like character, recommend sources and 
future work steps, etc.

In other words, the agent helps to manage and overcome the 
difficulties associated with
information overload. In part, there are many approaches and 
implemented solutions available
from advanced databases, knowledge-bases and distributed information
systems technology to
meet some of these demands. The effective and efficient access to 
information
on the Internet and Web has become a critical research area.

Information agents technology emerged as part of the more general
intelligent software
agent technology around seven years ago mainly as a response to the
increasing challenges
of the cyberspace from both, the technological and human user 
perspective.
It is an inherently interdisciplinary technology encompassing 
approaches, methods and tools

from different research disciplines such as Artificial Intelligence 
(AI), Advanced Database
and Knowledge Base Systems, Distributed Information Systems, 
Information Retrieval,
Cognitive Sciences and Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Today, it 
can be seen as one of
the key technologies for the actual and future Internet and worldwide 
Web.

Topics are but not limited to:

* Architectures of (Systems of) Information Agents

  General and specific architectures of information agents in 
different settings and environments.
  Approaches for communication and collaboration between (systems)
  of information agents. Service matchmaking and brokering.
  Inter-Agent Communication languages.

* Advanced Database and Knowledge-Base Technology

  Interoperability in large-scaled, and uncertain information 
environments.
  Application of Techniques for Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in
  open, distributed and dynamically changing environments.

* Methods of Adaptation and Learning for Systems of Information Agents

  Methods for automated uncertain reasoning for information agents.
  Computation and action under uncertainty and limited resources.
  Performance and measurement of adaptation of single agent or 
multiagent
  systems in uncertain information environments.

* Mobility and Issues of Security in the Internet

  Architectures, Environments and Languages for Mobile and Secure
  Information Agents and Servers.
  Secure agent execution and protection of data servers from 
malicious agents.
  Cooperating Information Agents in wearable computers, hand-held 
and/or
  satellite-based control devices.
* Rational Information Agents and Electronic Commerce

  Agent-Based Marketplaces, Coalition Formation, Auctions, 
Negotiations.
  Economic models of cooperative problem solving among rational 
information
  agents in open information environments.
  Methods for prevention and detection of lying rational information 
agents.
  Electronic Commerce with incomplete and uncertain informations.
  Standards for privacy of communication, security, and jurisdiction 
for
  agent-mediated deals.

* Human-Agent Interaction

  Synthetic Agents, believable avatars, and 3-D multimedia-based
  representation of user information spaces in the Internet.
  Models and Implementation of Advanced Interfaces for conversation 
and   dialogue among Information Agents and Users.

* Systems and Applications

  Systems and Applications of multiple collaborating Information 
Agents on the Internet.



PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPT
*************************

The length of the contribution should not exceed 22 pages.

For guidelines on manuscript preparation see the Web site of
the International Journal on Cooperative Information Systems at:

    http://www.wspc.com.sg/journals/ijcis/ijcis.html


SUBMISSION
**********

Manuscripts are to be submitted by (electronic) mail to the Guest
Editor (see below).
Authors may suggest the appropriate persons to review/referee their
paper, however, the Editor need not necessarily take up the 
suggestion.
Authors may request that their identity be kept unknown to the 
referee.
Camera-ready manuscripts are to be prepared according to the 
instructions

provided, preferably using LATEX or TEX.

Please submit your manuscript by

E-Mail (printable POSTSCRIPT - A4 format- AND the original text file) 
to

    klusch@dfki.de

XOR

Mail (5 Hard Copies) to

    Matthias Klusch
    DFKI GmbH
    Stuhlsatzenhausweg 3
    66123 Saarbruecken, Germany.
   Phone: +49-681-302 5297
   Fax:   +49-681-302 2235
   http://www.dfki.de/~klusch/
................................................................