1. Multi-Agent Systems & E- Commerce Martin Beer, School of Computing & Management Sciences, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom m.beer@shu.ac.uk

2. Objectives To look at how multi-agent services can be used to construct online trading communities To understand the technology needed to manage such services Theoretical basis Multi-Agent Communication Negotiating Strategies Platform & Infrastructure Issues To gain some practical experience of deploying multi-agent applications

3. Administrative Issues Course materials (slides, tutorial papers, book lists etc) will be loaded into Blackboard This will become the course repository and will include links to software, book sites etc. as they become relevant I shall upload materials a few days in advance of their use –This gives us flexibility to develop the course in directions you want –Allows latest developments to be incorporated as we go along –Discourages forward browsing

4. Timetable LectureOne per week (Tuesday 10:00) Tutorials(Alternate Weeks – Friday 9:00) Practicals(Alternate Weeks – Tuesday 4:00)

5. Course Structure Designed to be Flexible More general issues first – technical detail later –Causes an issue with practicals –Tried to split assessments so that you do not become overloaded We need to look at some of the theory – but I shall try not to examine it (ie exam questions will ask for descriptions & understanding, not mathematics) I have spent the summer on agent binfrastructure issues. If I get bogged down in infrastructure – Rescue me!

6. Course Structure – First Semester LectureTutorialPractical Week 1IntroductionNo Tutorial or Practical Week 2What are Agents?Nwana Introduction to Agents Paper A simple Agent Application Week 3Characteristics of Agents Week 4RobocupIntroduction to Robocup Week 5Information Agents Week 6BrokeringJennings & Wooldridge Selecting & Playing Teams Week 7Personal & Mobile Agents Week 8Cooperating Agents Week 9 Week 10Transaction ManagementJasper Paper Week 11Agents for Financial Apps Week 12Reserve

7. Course Structure – Second Semester LectureTutorialPractical Week 13Agent ArchitecturesZeus PaperBuilding a simple Multiagent System Week 14Formal Definition of Agents (Not Examined) Week 15 Week 16Building Agent Communities Week 17Agent Communication Languages Jade Paper Week 18 Week 19Negotiation Week 20 Week 21AuctionsSample Healthcare System (Honeywell) Week 22 Week 23SummaryReserve Week 24Reserve

8. Assessment Tutorial Assignment 25%Wednesday of Week 12 (Noon) Practical Assignment 25%Wednesday of Week 24 (Noon) Examination50%

9. Teaching Materials Books –Will circulate book list in a couple of weeks –No books ideal Most very theoretical Technology changing so fast that authors unable to keep up Little real practical knowledge Papers –More useful – but incomplete –Tutorial papers chosen to build up into a useful learning resource –Will not totally replace a text book But will go a long way towards it

10. Practical Work We shall use a number of agent tools to gain some practical experience –Toolkits based on Java Jade Zeus Links already installed on Blackboard –RoboCup simulator will be used to demonstrate some principles

11. When will agents be implemented? (Trudeau, 1996)