|
Keynote Speakers
"Where are all the agents?"
by Prof. James Hendler, Tetherless World Constellation
Chair, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA |
 |
Abstract
In the late 1990s, many of us believed we
were at a time where the large-scale deployment of
agent-based computing was right around the corner. The key
obstacles to the wider deployment of agent-based systems
were identified early on as a need for interoperability
and intercommunication. Today, however, we have Web
Service standards, supported by the largest software
development and support companies, which provide for many
of the interoperability needs we identified.
We also have the Semantic Web seeing wide deployment and
support from some of the larger data providing companies.
Open source toolkits and tens of thousands of ontologies
in OWL are now available to make domain engineering
easier. We have many large Web providers that make access
to their systems available through some sort of service
interface or in easily programmable ways, so access to
service providers abounds. Technologies transitioning from
research to industry also include data access for Semantic
Web resources, rule-
based Web languages, and even expressive logics for the
high end KR needs of some applications. However, looking
at what is hot on the Web, in IT development, and in VC
circles, I find myself shaking my head and wondering,
"Where are all the agents?"
Bio
Jim Hendler is the Tetherless World Senior
Constellation Chair at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
where he has appointments in the Department of Computer
Science and the Cognitive Science Dept. He also serves as
the Associate Director of the Web Science Research
Initiative headquartered at MIT. Hendler has authored
about 200 technical papers in the areas of artificial
intelligence, Semantic Web, agent-based computing and high
performance processing. Hendler was the recipient of a
1995 Fulbright Foundation Fellowship and is a Fellow of
the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and
the British Computer Society. He is also the former Chief
Scientist of the Information Systems Office at the US
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where he
ran a series of programs on "Agent- Based Computing." He
is the Editor in Chief of IEEE Intelligent
Systems and is the first computer scientist to serve on
the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science.
"Problem Oriented Engineering"
by Dr. Lucia Rapanotti, Department of Computing, The
Open University, UK
|
 |
Abstract
Problem Oriented Engineering (POE) is a formal system for
engineering design. It views engineering design as a
problem solving process where knowledge exploration and
design steps are intertwined with validation, allowing for
iteration between problem and solution spaces. Its
Gentzen-style formulation is meant as a system for
'natural' design, rather than mathematical proof, to serve
the needs of engineering. It also allows for an elegant
encoding in Prolog, leading to a powerful computational
engine.
In this keynote lecture, I will introduce the basic
elements of POE, and its engineering and logic foundation,
as well as provide an overview of POE current application
and development.
Bio
Lucia Rapanotti is an Associate Professor in the Computing
Department at The Open University, UK, and co-Editor of
Expert Systems, The Journal of Knowledge Engineering
(Wiley-Blackwell Publishing). She is also Secretary of the
Requirements Engineering Specialist Group of of the
British Computing Society.
Previously, she has held research positions at Milan
University (Italy), and Oxford and Newcastle upon Tyne
Universities (UK). Over the years, her work has focused on
software engineering and development methods.
Lucia holds a Laurea Cum Laude in Computer Science from
the University of Milan, and a PhD, also in Computer
Science, from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
For more information, please see
http://mcs.open.ac.uk/lr38/
Back
|
