MAS as Open Systems

Stefan Kirn
TU Ilmenau, Institute of Information Systems, D-98684 Ilmenau
Stefan.Kirn@Wirtschaft.TU-Ilmenau.DE


The "digital economy" requires open systems that are capable to dynamically adapt them­selves to changing environments. Examples are electronic markets, communities, distributed search engines. Such applications demand for software systems  It has been argued that MAS are a relevant technology, which fits important demands in internet computing. In particular, MAS are supposed to be open systems in that agents can enter / leave at any time. In this context, the talk presents some reflections on "open" multi­agent systems. 

In the first part, we review the historical roots, and the DPS/MAS-discussion in the early/mid 1990's under the open systems-perspective. Our analysis discovers how important the open systems-hypothesis has been for DAI research from its very beginning. However, research in MAS did not provide any solutions for the concrete problems arising from the challenge of really open systems.

In its second part, the talk analyzes MAS under a system theory perspective. A system has an identity, it is composed of nodes and relationships between them, and it may also contain subsystems. System nodes can join and leave a subsystem. In general, nodes can also join several subsystems at a time. A system is called open if it is capable to exchange elements (such as information, members, subsystems) with its environment. Further, system theory distinguishes between stable and unstable systems. Stable systems aim to survive, often they are particularly capable to adapt themselves to changes in their environments. Our discussion shows that research in MAS does only address a subset of open systems as they are described / analyzed in system theory.

The third part of the presentation studies the open systems-definition of the FIPA standard. In particular, we are interested in how the FIPA definition of MAS platforms does meet the challenge of open systems. Further, we will investigate how the FIPA standard supports interoperability (on which levels) between a MAS and any other type of software systems.

Finally, the presentation studies typical agent applications in the internet economy. Examples are softbots for information retrieval, cooperative search engines, electronic markets, and communities. The aim is to understand what "open" means in the context of a particular business scenario, and why it is important for just that type of business. We will see, that there are very different notions of "open systems", depending on the business case considered. However, only some of them are addressed by today's MAS research. Another problem is that MAS are generally supposed to provide a maximum of flexibility. Such MAS are thus fluid, unstable software systems, which can not be used for applications that require a minimum of reliability, and predictability. This restricts the applicability of agent technology much more than necessary.
 
Stefan Kirn holds a m.sc. degree in management, a m.sc. degree in computer science, and a ph.d. in computer science. Currently, he heads a chair of information systems at Technical Univ. Ilmenau, Germany. His research interests are mainly in multiagent systems,  in the integration of agent technology with information systems in business and management, and in agent technology in e-commerce. Further areas of research are IT applications in logistics, banking, public administration, and healthcare. In these fields, he has contributed about 60 papers to reviewed international workshops, conferences, and journals, and he has edited and co-edited several books. Since 1999, he is coorinator/speaker of a new German priority research program "Intelligent agents in Business".