IJAOSE special issue on Holonic Multi-Agent Systems

[Massimo Cossentino]

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