AgentLink The ESPRIT Network of Excellence for Agent-based Computing

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AgentLinkThe ESPRIT Network of Excellencefor
Agent-based Computing

• Mike Wooldridge
• University of London, UK
• http//www.AgentLink.org/

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What is a Network of Excellence?

• ESPRIT-funded communication and cooperation
  infrastructure.
• For industry and academia.
• Focussed on strategically important area of
  information technology.
• Ultimate goal promote Euro industry in these
  areas.

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What are Agents?

• Autonomous software components
• Capable of acting independently to achieve design
  objectives
• Capable of cooperating with other agents to
  achieve design objectives
• Major area of IT RD
• telecoms, electronic commerce, industrial
  control, information management, ...

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What is AgentLink?

• Open Network of Excellence for agent-based
  computing.
• Funding starts Spring 1998.
• Intended to give European industry a head start
  in a crucial new area of IT.
• Build on current activities.

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What will it do?

• Four areas of work
• industrial action
• gaining advantage for Euro industry
• research coordination
• excellence relevance of Euro research
• teaching training
• fostering agent skills across region
• communication infrastructrure
• facilitating AgentLink work

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Industrial Action

• Aims to
• promote awareness takeup of agents
• foster new collaborations in promising areas of
  agent technology
• facilitate technology transfer
• support promote standards (e.g., FIPA)
• Activities
• SIGs, industrial mtgs, applications database,
  support for collaboration,

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Research Coordination

• Aims to
• promote academic awareness takeup of agent
  research
• foster industrially relevant agent research
• promote new collaborations for technology
  transfer
• Activities
• SIGs, research database, reseach repository,
  newsletter, ...

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Teaching Training

• Aims
• foster agent-related RD skills
• disseminate agent-related courses, reports,
  syllabuses,
• Activities
• summer schools
• suporting teaching activities at events
• dissemination of agent courses

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Communication Infrastructure

• Aims
• provide a cheap, efficient, effective
  communication management infrastructure for
  AgentLink
• Activities
• dedicated WWW site (www.AgentLink.org)
• regular published newsletter
• mailing lists, ...

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Management Structure

• Bottom up management!
• Aim to give all nodes the opportunity to
  participate
• Each work area has coordinator
• team for each area to carry out work
• Mgmt committee
• coordinators area teams
• SIG chairs

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How many members do you have?

• Thirty-seven kick-off members
• From thirteen Euro nations
• Now 110 full members
• from all European member states
• Approx 4060 industryacademic

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Industrial Participation?

• Major Telcos
• BT, France Telecom, Deutsch Telecom, Nokia, KPN,
  
• Start-up companies
• Zuno (!), Lining Systems,
• Manufacturing giants
• Siemens, Daimler-Benz, ...

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Special Interest Groups

• A key area of AL activity
• Travel support for regular meetings
• agent mediated electronic commerce
• software engineering
• information agents
• agent-based simulation
• agents for telecoms applications
• coordination control for real time apps

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The Summer School

• The main teaching training activity
• Last week of July 1999
• Utrecht, the Netherlands
• AL suport for approx 50 students
• About 16 courses in total
• Major international speakers

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Can I Join?

• AgentLink is open to
• all Euro industry
• all Euro academic sites that demonstrate
  relevance of RD work
• includes EC agent projects
• includes nationally-funded agent projects
• includes active agent researchers
• Associate status for non-EC nodes
• no funding -(

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To Find Out More

• Mike Wooldridge (AL Coordinator)
• Dept of Electronic Engineering Queen Mary
  Westfield College University of London London
  E1 4NS United Kingdom http//www.
  AgentLink.org/ mailtocoordinator_at_Agen
  tLink.org