Virtual Organizations Milind Tambe (USC) Kathleen Carley (CMU) Charles Perrow (Yale) Russel Dynes (Delaware) Tony Oliver-Smith (Florida) Joe Scanlon (Carleton) Syed Qadir (NRC, Coast Guard) RESPONDING TO THE UNEXPECTED NSF FEB 28, 2002

Virtual Organizations Organizations that are: –Dynamically emergent from elements drawn from multiple existing institutions –Distributed geographically, temporally, demographically –Large –Highly dynamic & adaptive (membership may change rapidly) –To achieve a temporary (situationally) common goal –Elements may be people, agents, robots, organizations themselves, software & computational resources, equipment, –Crisis teams, Informal distributed collaborative groups, Networks, Informal organizations, Task force Why needed: –No one organization possesses all required resources and skills

Examples Response group to 9/11 Flight 93 plane crash in Penn –Included red cross, FEMA, local fire crew, local police, FBI… Gander, Newfoundland looks after diverted flights and people on 9/11 Response to Halifax explosion in Canada (1917) replaced by a formal structure in 1918 –Virtual organization of govt, business,… Operation desert storm (Kuwait) Operation enduring freedom TIE group in response to DARPA’s call to build a mission rehearsal system

Artificial Agents VOs may or may not include artificial agents –Agents are goal-oriented, reactive, autonomous, persistent, social entities (software or hardware),… –Example: Synthetic interviewer for giving out information on the web Collaborative sensor agents for various environments (including nuclear radiations, chemical and biological agents, pH of water, biological concentration monitoring agent) Electronic broker: Matching supply and demand Personal assistant which can locate people, schedule appointments

Research Issues Three Categories

Investigating Virtual Organizations –FORMATION How are they formed Who is a member, Gatekeepers –STRUCTURE Role of leadership, flat or hierarchical –OPERATION: Given heterogeneity how do agents interact How do they coordinate? What makes them effective (or not)? How do they allocate tasks –DYNAMICS: How do they change where do they arise,

Agents Applied to Virtual Organizations Investigating role of agents as participants in VO –Formation Locate needs, experts, resources, negotiate for acquisition Negotiate for acquisition of resources Aid in training personnel –Operation Help in routine coordination, monitor performance, offer support Provide information, guidance, security from threats Using multiagent systems to understand VOs –To model and experimentally investigate Vos –After action what-if analysis –Planning and pre-testing response strategies

Agent Human Interface Issues –How does insertion of agents affect organizational decision making or social relationships –Are there limits on agent authority, autonomy, capabilities, and should there be limits? –Adjustable autonomy –Safety in operation of agents (esp given adaptation) –Privacy –Security (may conflict with privacy)