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Normative multi-agent systems offer the ability to integrate social and individual factors to provide increased levels of fidelity with respect to modelling social phenomena, such as cooperation, coordination, group decision making, and organization, in both human and artificial agent systems. An important open research issue refers to group norms, that is, norms that govern groups of agents. Depending on the interpretation, group norms may be intended to affect the group as a whole, each member of a group, or some members of the group. Moreover, upholding group norms may require coordination among the members of the group. We have identified three sets of agents affected by group norms, namely, (i) the addressees of the norm, (ii) those that will act on it, and (iii) those that are responsible for ensuring norm compliance. We present a formalism to represent these, connecting it to a minimalist agent organisation model. We use our formalism to develop a reasoning mechanism that enables agents to identify their position with respect to a group norm to further support agent autonomy and coordination when deciding on possible courses of action., Information and Communication Technology

Normative multi-agent systems offer the ability to integrate social and individual factors to provide increased levels of fidelity with respect to modelling social phenomena, such as cooperation, coordination, group decision making, and organization, in both human and artificial agent systems. An important open research issue refers to group norms, that is, norms that govern groups of agents. Depending on the interpretation, group norms may be intended to affect the group as a whole, each member of a group, or some members of the group. Moreover, upholding group norms may require coordination among the members of the group. We have identified three sets of agents affected by group norms, namely, (i) the addressees of the norm, (ii) those that will act on it, and (iii) those that are responsible for ensuring norm compliance. We present a formalism to represent these, connecting it to a minimalist agent organisation model. We use our formalism to develop a reasoning mechanism that enables agents to identify their position with respect to a group norm to further support agent autonomy and coordination when deciding on possible courses of action., Information and Communication Technology

Norms have been used to represent desirable behaviours that software agents should exhibit in sophisticated multi-agent solutions. An important open research issue refers to group norms, i.e. norms that govern groups of agents. Depending on the interpretation, group norms may be intended to affect the group as a whole, each member of a group, or some members of the group. Moreover, upholding group norms may require coordination among the members of the group. We have identified three sets of agents affected by group norms, namely, i) the addressees of the norm, ii) those that will act on it, and iii) those that are responsible to ensure norm compliance. We present a formalism to represent these, connecting it to a minimalist agent organisation model. We use our formalism to develop a reasoning mechanism which enables agents to identify their position with respect to a group norm, so as to further support agent autonomy and coordination when deciding on possible courses of action., Engineering, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Norms have been used to represent desirable behaviours that software agents should exhibit in sophisticated multi-agent solutions. An important open research issue refers to group norms, i.e. norms that govern groups of agents. Depending on the interpretation, group norms may be intended to affect the group as a whole, each member of a group, or some members of the group. Moreover, upholding group norms may require coordination among the members of the group. We have identified three sets of agents affected by group norms, namely, i) the addressees of the norm, ii) those that will act on it, and iii) those that are responsible to ensure norm compliance. We present a formalism to represent these, connecting it to a minimalist agent organisation model. We use our formalism to develop a reasoning mechanism which enables agents to identify their position with respect to a group norm, so as to further support agent autonomy and coordination when deciding on possible courses of action., Engineering, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

The Extended Single Window (ESW) project aims to support goods flows by Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Specifically, the project takes the concept of Single Windows (often used in the sense that governments offer a single portal or interface to which businesses can submit information, supporting re-ruse by multiple agencies and coordination of government activities) and includes the business side; creating an Extended Single Window. An Extended Single Window includes business information systems and platforms and supports the re-use of business data, both for supporting new business applications and for making it easier to connect to government single windows. The project is not alone in this ambition. For example, in the FP7 project CASSANDRA, funded by the European Commission, the concept of a data pipeline was developed and put to practice in various international trade lanes comprising four continents in total. Within the Netherlands, the national initiative to support innovations in logistics (Topsector Logistics) yielded the development of a Neutral Logistics Information Platform (NLIP, see www.nlip.org). This platform aimed to support information exchange in international supply chains. Similar to ESW, the starting point in the NLIP were the Port Community Systems (PCSs) in main ports in the Netherlands, and build from there. Given the similarities, ESW has been heavily impacted by the development of NLIP and much of the material in this report is in the context of the NLIP concept and programme. However, be it a data pipeline, an Extended single window, or a logistics information platform, one of the pressing issues of these ICTs for information exchange in the international supply chain is the issue of governance. Governance primarily concerns what kind of decision structures are needed, for example on the process of agreeing on data ownership, the selection of standards, and the funding structures. What incentives can be created to have pa, Multi Actor Systems, Technology, Policy and Management

Engineering, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Engineering, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

The Extended Single Window (ESW) project aims to support goods flows by Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Specifically, the project takes the concept of Single Windows (often used in the sense that governments offer a single portal or interface to which businesses can submit information, supporting re-ruse by multiple agencies and coordination of government activities) and includes the business side; creating an Extended Single Window. An Extended Single Window includes business information systems and platforms and supports the re-use of business data, both for supporting new business applications and for making it easier to connect to government single windows. The project is not alone in this ambition. For example, in the FP7 project CASSANDRA, funded by the European Commission, the concept of a data pipeline was developed and put to practice in various international trade lanes comprising four continents in total. Within the Netherlands, the national initiative to support innovations in logistics (Topsector Logistics) yielded the development of a Neutral Logistics Information Platform (NLIP, see www.nlip.org). This platform aimed to support information exchange in international supply chains. Similar to ESW, the starting point in the NLIP were the Port Community Systems (PCSs) in main ports in the Netherlands, and build from there. Given the similarities, ESW has been heavily impacted by the development of NLIP and much of the material in this report is in the context of the NLIP concept and programme. However, be it a data pipeline, an Extended single window, or a logistics information platform, one of the pressing issues of these ICTs for information exchange in the international supply chain is the issue of governance. Governance primarily concerns what kind of decision structures are needed, for example on the process of agreeing on data ownership, the selection of standards, and the funding structures. What incentives can be created to have pa, Multi Actor Systems, Technology, Policy and Management

It is hard, if not impossible, to assume anything about agents’ behavior in a society with heterogeneous agents from different sources. Organizations are used to restrict and guide the agents’ actions such that the global objectives of the society are achieved. We discuss how agents can be supported to include organizational objectives and constraints into their reasoning processes by considering two alternatives: agent reasoning and middleware regulation. We show how agents can use an organizational specification to achieve organizational objectives by delegating and coordinating their activities with other agents in the society, using the GOAL agent programming language and the OperA organizational model.

Security policies in organisations typically take the form of obligations for the employees. However, it is often unclear what the purpose of such obligations is, and how these can be integrated in the operational processes of the organisation. This can result in policies that may be either too strong or too weak, leading to unnecessary productivity loss, or the possibility of becoming victim to attacks that exploit the weaknesses, respectively. In this paper, we propose a framework in which the security obligations of employees are linked directly to prohibitions that prevent external agents (attackers) from reaching their goals. We use graph-based and logicbased approaches to formalise and reason about such policies, and show how the framework can be used to verify correctness of the associated refinements. The framework can assist organisations in aligning security policies with their threat model., Engineering, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

It is hard, if not impossible, to assume anything about agents’ behavior in a society with heterogeneous agents from different sources. Organizations are used to restrict and guide the agents’ actions such that the global objectives of the society are achieved. We discuss how agents can be supported to include organizational objectives and constraints into their reasoning processes by considering two alternatives: agent reasoning and middleware regulation. We show how agents can use an organizational specification to achieve organizational objectives by delegating and coordinating their activities with other agents in the society, using the GOAL agent programming language and the OperA organizational model., Infrastructures, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Within a virtual organization, more than one institution might be involved in the regulation of actors’ behavior. Each institution specifies a set of norms covering a specific aspect of the problem domain with a governance scope defining its remit. Together, they govern the participants and reflect the objectives of the organization. With actors’ behavior being simultaneously regulated by more than one institution, normative conflicts can appear. In this paper, we formalize the notion of governance scope and propose a computational approach to identify weak and strong norm conflicts in virtual organizations. This is achieved by explicitly modeling the governance scopes of institutions through context models. We illustrate our approach by means of a case study concerning food security in international trade., Engineering Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

It is hard, if not impossible, to assume anything about agents’ behavior in a society with heterogeneous agents from different sources. Organizations are used to restrict and guide the agents’ actions such that the global objectives of the society are achieved. We discuss how agents can be supported to include organizational objectives and constraints into their reasoning processes by considering two alternatives: agent reasoning and middleware regulation. We show how agents can use an organizational specification to achieve organizational objectives by delegating and coordinating their activities with other agents in the society, using the GOAL agent programming language and the OperA organizational model.

Security policies in organisations typically take the form of obligations for the employees. However, it is often unclear what the purpose of such obligations is, and how these can be integrated in the operational processes of the organisation. This can result in policies that may be either too strong or too weak, leading to unnecessary productivity loss, or the possibility of becoming victim to attacks that exploit the weaknesses, respectively. In this paper, we propose a framework in which the security obligations of employees are linked directly to prohibitions that prevent external agents (attackers) from reaching their goals. We use graph-based and logicbased approaches to formalise and reason about such policies, and show how the framework can be used to verify correctness of the associated refinements. The framework can assist organisations in aligning security policies with their threat model., Engineering, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

It is hard, if not impossible, to assume anything about agents’ behavior in a society with heterogeneous agents from different sources. Organizations are used to restrict and guide the agents’ actions such that the global objectives of the society are achieved. We discuss how agents can be supported to include organizational objectives and constraints into their reasoning processes by considering two alternatives: agent reasoning and middleware regulation. We show how agents can use an organizational specification to achieve organizational objectives by delegating and coordinating their activities with other agents in the society, using the GOAL agent programming language and the OperA organizational model., Infrastructures, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Within a virtual organization, more than one institution might be involved in the regulation of actors’ behavior. Each institution specifies a set of norms covering a specific aspect of the problem domain with a governance scope defining its remit. Together, they govern the participants and reflect the objectives of the organization. With actors’ behavior being simultaneously regulated by more than one institution, normative conflicts can appear. In this paper, we formalize the notion of governance scope and propose a computational approach to identify weak and strong norm conflicts in virtual organizations. This is achieved by explicitly modeling the governance scopes of institutions through context models. We illustrate our approach by means of a case study concerning food security in international trade., Engineering Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Infrastructures, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Infrastructures, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Infrastructures, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Agents interact with each other within a set of norms, which is expressed at different levels of abstraction that capture different con- texts and operationalizations. Current normative frameworks deal with norm operationalization, yet few consider the contextual aspects of norms. Moreover, most frameworks are based on the independent evaluations of norms, which makes it difficult to evaluate interrelated effects of different norms and contexts. In this paper, we propose norm nets as a formalism to capture the structure of contextualized norm sets. This formalism will enable (1) the analysis of interrelations between norms, (2) the contextualization of normative statements, and (3) the verification of properties of related norms. We apply this framework to a case study taken from the domain of international trade., Infrastructures, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Infrastructures, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Infrastructures, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Infrastructures, Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management