Approach

The approach

The project combines incremental research on the lines on which the groups are strong and disruptive research on some aspects that require new and different solutions. The project is framed on a combination of formal approaches with practical solutions in the form of software tools and prototypes. The research and the tools will be tested on three case studies.

We consider that the research to be developed has to be grounded on solid formal models that will allow for the development of computational theories, the proof of behaviour properties and the easy transmission of knowledge in the field. The project will thus build upon different types of logics, formalisms, and semantic methods; it will use several well established bodies of knowledge (e.g. information theory, game theory, or data mining), and will propose new formalisms where the ideas explored in the more disruptive research require them.

The project has a strong practical aim as well. One of its goals is to have a significant industrial impact through the demonstrators and the advisory boards. We want to see the impact of all the formal and theoretical research into a new generation of software tools and systems. We want to generate open distributed systems where the participation cost for a new member is just as simple as downloading a plug-in; we want users to be just a click away from being into a large society of regulated components, or a click away from using web services. The project will generate such tools that will combine enhanced versions of existing tools developed by the three research groups (EIDE, ENP, SIMBA, MAGENTIX, SPADE, MAST, TOAST, RICA) with newly developed software components.

Finally, the project aims at developing proof-of-concept applications in three domains that are massively distributed and that are rich enough to test the variety of techniques explored: eProcurement (electronic procurement), mHealth (mobile health), and mWater (water dispute resolution).

eProcurement: Open eProcurement is in urgent need of tools that permit the flexible negotiation of agreements, the verification of commitments, the building of long-lasting relationships, the modelling of trust and online dispute resolution. These are just the problems this project aims at studying.

mHealth: Efficiently providing high-quality healthcare services for mobile citizens is becoming increasingly important in the society of the 21st century. Through the use of Agreement Technologies we will address some highly relevant challenges in this field. In particular, we will provide value-added services for foreign business people and tourists on the move in case of medical emergencies. Through mobile devices such as PDAs or smart phones a person that suddenly feels ill can initiate coordination processes so as to dynamically orchestrate relevant services and to forge agreements among the organisations involved so as to ensure the possible best treatment for the patient. Such an application is especially relevant for countries like Spain with a high percentage of GDP coming from travel and tourism.

mWater: Water scarcity in countries like Spain is a crucial issue for the future. Traditionally institutions have played a major role in setting agreements and resolving disputes (like the ‘Tribunal de les aïgues’ in Valencia solving disputes since the middle ages for water sharing). We plan to apply the agreement technologies in the construction of a prototype that could mediate in the negotiations and dispute of water usage. This application is of strategic importance for the Spanish society and economy.