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From: jvitek@cui.unige.ch (Jan VITEK)
Subject: CFP:  Agents and Objects
Message-ID: <1995Jun22.172710.29076@news.unige.ch>
Sender: usenet@news.unige.ch
Organization: University of Geneva - CUI
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 17:27:10 GMT
Lines: 127


                        Call for Participation
                         ECOOP Workshop W10:  

                          OBJECT AND AGENTS:
                          =================

           Love at First Sight   OR   Shotgun Wedding?"
 
                    Aarhus, Denmark, Monday August 7, 1995

AUDIENCE

  This workshop brings together researchers working  on the design and 
  implementation  of new  object-oriented languages that integrate the 
  concept of  Software Agents  into the  Object-Oriented  paradigm.

  This workshop aims to be  more than just a forum for discussion, the 
  expected output  is  a position paper  describing open  issues  and
  research directions in the definition of Agent Languages.


TOPIC

  Software agents  have  been characterized as  mobile  and  autonomous 
  software entities.  Mobility implies that  agents carry out  tasks on 
  one or more hosts on the network. Autonomy requires that the interac-
  tions between an agent and its owner be few and far between.
  
  Programming with agents is in many ways a new paradigm. This paradigm
  requires linguistic support.   Programming languages and systems that
  address those requirements  are starting to appear,  example of those
  are Telescript, Smalltalk/Agents, and M0.

  The question raised by this workshop is how objects and agents can be 
  integrated in  one framework.  It appears  clear that  agent-oriented 
  programming  will require  special support  from the environment, the 
  programming language and the operating system.  How do objects fit in 
  this new picture?

  The goal of this workshop is  to  identify  issues  and  requirements. 
  Software agents imply a  shift in our view of  computer communication. 
  Instead of exchanging passive data, computer systems will communicate 
  by exchanging active programs. The requirements and issues are likely
  to be different than those of  other forms of  distributed computing.

  The following list may provide a starting point for the discussion:

    * MOBILITY  Issues related to mobility. How will agents find their 
      way around a large and heterogeneous set of hosts? How will agent 
      traffic be regulated?  How will  we be able to recall or kill an
      autonomous entity?

    * PROTECTION Issues related to protection of the resources of the
      hosts.   How will the host impose limits on the agent's actions? 
      How will the host negotiate payment for the use of its
      resources?

    * PRIVACY and INTEGRITY Issues related to protection of the infor-
      mation that is embedded in the agents themselves and  protection 
      from alterations. 

    * PROTOCOLS  Issues related to communication between agents. 

    * INTEROPERABILITY Issues related to hardware and software 
      independence.

    * MONEY Issues related to cost of resources and services.

DURATION

  The workshop will last one full day. A dinner will be organized in the
  evening.


HOW TO APPLY

  In order to keep the workshop focused, all prospective participants will
  submit a problem statement.  This should take the form of  a  short note 
  describing one open issue to be discussed at the workshop.  The position 
  statements should be submitted via e-mail to:

                        ecoopws@cui.unige.ch

FORMAT

  The organizers  will select  a number  of discussion  topics from  the
  submissions.  Each topic will  be the subject of  a short presentation
  by the author. This presentation  is limited  to a few minutes and  is
  meant to introduce one problem area. This should set the stage for the 
  day's working discussion.


ACCEPTANCE

  Acceptance in this workshop is limited.  Problem statements will be ac-
  cepted on the basis of their relevance to the topic.

TIMETABLE

   - July 15, 1995: Application deadline.
   - July 20, 1995: Notification of acceptance. 


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

	http://cuiwww.unige.ch/OSG/ECOOP95WS/Agents.html


WORKSHOP ORGANIZATION

  Jan Vitek 
  University of Geneva 
  Object Systems Group,
  12 rue General Dufour,
  Geneva, Switzerland
  e-mail: jvitek@cui.unige.ch
  http://cuiwww.unige.ch/OSG/Vitek/HomePage.html

  Oscar Nierstrasz
  Institut f\:ur Informatik (IAM)
  Universit\:at Bern
  Neubr\:uckstrasse 10
  CH-3012 Bern
  SWITZERLAND
  e-mail: oscar@iam.unibe.ch
  http://iamwww.unibe.ch/~oscar
