CFP: OBJECTS & AGENTS (ECOOP95 W10)

                                                Call for Participation
                                                  ECOOP Workshop W10:


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


                    Love at First Sight OR Shotgun Wedding?"


                                        Aarhus, Denmark, August 7-11, 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 1, 1995: Application deadline.
      - July 10, 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
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