Julian Padget

Bio: Julian Padget is an academic researcher from University of Bath. The author has contributed to research in topics: Answer set programming & Lisp. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 269 publications receiving 3765 citations. Previous affiliations of Julian Padget include Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Issues in multiagent resource allocation

Abstract: Issues in Multiagent Resource Allocation Yann Chevaleyre, Paul E. Dunne, Ulle Endriss, Jerome Lang, Michel Lemaitre, Nicolas Maudet, Julian Padget, Steve Phelps, Juan A. Rodrigues-Aguilar, Paulo Sousa Abstract: The allocation of resources within a system of autonomous agents, that not only have preferences over alternative allocations of resources but also actively participate in computing an allocation, is an exciting area of research at the interface of Computer Science and Economics. This paper is a survey of some of the most salient issues in Multiagent Resource Allocation. In particular, we review various languages to represent the preferences of agents over alternative allocations of resources as well as different measures of social welfare to assess the overall quality of an allocation. We also discuss pertinent issues regarding allocation procedures and present important complexity results. Our presentation of theoretical issues is complemented by a discussion of software packages for the simulation of agent-based market places. We also introduce four major application areas for Multiagent Resource Allocation, namely industrial procurement, sharing of satellite resources, manufacturing control, and grid computing.

Formalizing a language for institutions and norms

Abstract: One source of trust for physical trading systems is their physical assets and simply their presence. A similar baseline does not exist for electronic trading systems, but one way in which it may be possible to create that initial trust is through the abstract notion of an institution, defined in terms of norms [19] and the scenes within which (software) agents may play roles in different trading activities, governed by those norms. We present here a case for institutions in electronic trading, a specification language for institutions (covering norms, performative structure, scenes, roles, etc.) and its semantics and how this may be mapped into formal languages such as process algebra and various forms of logic, so that there is a framework within which norms can be stated and proven.

Automatic mapping of OWL ontologies into Java

Abstract: We present an approach for mapping an OWL ontology into Java. The basic idea is to create a set of Java interfaces and classes from an OWL ontology such that an instance of a Java class represents an instance of a single class of the ontology with most of its properties, classrelationships and restriction-definitions maintained. We note that there exist some fundamental semantic differences between Description Logic (DL) and Object Oriented (OO) systems, primarily related to completeness and satisfiability. We present various ways in which we aim to minimize the impact of such differences, and show how to map a large part of the much richer OWL semantics into Java. Finally, we sketch the HarmonIA framework, which is used for the automatic generation of agent systems from institution specifications, and whose OWL Ontology Creation module was the basis for the tool presented in this paper.

The Digitization of Word of Mouth: Promise and Challenges of Online Feedback Mechanisms

Abstract: Online feedback mechanisms harness the bidirectional communication capabilities of the Internet to engineer large-scale, word-of-mouth networks. Best known so far as a technology for building trust and fostering cooperation in online marketplaces, such as eBay, these mechanisms are poised to have a much wider impact on organizations. Their growing popularity has potentially important implications for a wide range of management activities such as brand building, customer acquisition and retention, product development, and quality assurance. This paper surveys our progress in understanding the new possibilities and challenges that these mechanisms represent. It discusses some important dimensions in which Internet-based feedback mechanisms differ from traditional word-of-mouth networks and surveys the most important issues related to their design, evaluation, and use. It provides an overview of relevant work in game theory and economics on the topic of reputation. It discusses how this body of work is being extended and combined with insights from computer science, management science, sociology, and psychology to take into consideration the special properties of online environments. Finally, it identifies opportunities that this new area presents for operations research/management science (OR/MS) research.