AGENTLINK UPDATE # 58 -- 15 March 2004 This is the email newsletter of AgentLink -- Europe's Network of Excellence for Agent-based Computing. The AgentLink WWW site is http://www.AgentLink.org/ IMPORTANT: Please take the time to ensure that every member of your group receives a copy of the AgentLink update. If you have a group mail alias, why not get this alias to be added to the mailing list? To subscribe/unsubscribe to this mailing list simply send a request to mailto:coordinator@agentlink.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * AgentLink III membership is now open * Standardisation Activities - Welcome to the new Standardisation Liaisons - FIPA meeting, Barcelona, 17-19 March 2004 * Technical Forum Groups - AgentLink III 1st Technical Forum (AL3-TF1) - Call for Proposals ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * AgentLink III membership is now open AgentLink III membership entitles the organisation to receive the folliowing benefits: - Employees and students of members are eligible to receive travel funding support to attend AgentLink III events (such as the European Agent Systems Summer School and the Agent Technical Forum meetings). - Members receive regular email alerts concerning agent-related events and news items. - Members receive a copy of the AgentLink III newsletter. - Members receive a complimentary subscription to the Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. Membership is free; however, members have an obligation to provide and maintain information on publications, research activities via the AgentLink website. Organizations which were members of AgentLink II need to re-apply to become members of AgentLink III. To qualify for membership, organizations need to be resident in a European Union nation or an Associated State, and need to demonstrate active involvement in research, development, dissemination or deployment of agent-based computing technologies. Membership is not open to individuals, nor to organizations residing outside the European Union nation or an Associated State. For more details about the AgentLink III membership process, visit the AgentLink III website: http://www.AgentLink.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * Welcome to the new Standardisation Liaisons As part of the ongoing evolution of AgentLink III, stronger links to standardisation efforts are being forged. Omer Rana and James Odell have kindly agreed to be AgentLink III liaisons for GGF and OMG respectively. These links are intended to provide better awareness of standardisation activities to the AgentLink community, as well as providing a voice for the community to the respective standards bodies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * FIPA meeting, Barcelona, 17-19 March 2004 The 31st FIPA meeting will take place this17-19 March in Barcelona, Spain at he kind invitation of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB). Registration, hotel reservation, and information about the meeting venue and localities can be found at: http://www.fipa.org/activities/nextmeeting.html An agenda and information on the social event will be posted shortly. For further information or questions, contact Jacquie Kelly (FIPA Secretariat) at secretariat@fipa.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * AgentLink III 1st Technical Forum (AL3-TF1) - Call for Proposals AgentLink III is establishing a periodic Technical Forum (AL3-TF), in which Technical Forum Groups (TFGs) will meet to discuss issues of key interest. The First AgentLink III Technical Forum (AL3-TF1) will take place in Rome from 30 June to 2 July 2004. AL3-TF1 will host the first meetings of the AL3 TFGs in form of either half-day or full-day events (longer durations to be negotiated on request). TFGs will be selected on a "per event" basis, in response to *bids* for each Technical Forum, with decisions being made in relation to links to related areas, industrial relevance and contribution to roadmapping. New areas that have no obvious forum for discussion of important issues will be prioritised. More precisely, AgentLink III will accept TFG of the following sorts: - Application-area TFGs, focusing on promising application areas for agent technology - Research-area TFGs, which are basically collections of AL3 nodes, working on closely-related advanced agent research (interdisciplinary themes favoured here) - Inter-network TFGs, promoting links to related networks of excellence and to related integrated projects. Details of the TFGs have been posted on the web-site at the following location: http://www.agentlink.org/activities/al3-tf/tf1/ Proposals for holding a TFG in the First AgentLink III Technical Forum should be sent to the Forum Chairs through the AL3 Web site. Dates ----- TFG Proposal Submission: 9 April 2004 TFG Preliminary Notification: 26 April 2004 AL3-TF1 Preliminary Program: 20 May 2004 AL3-TF1 Takes Place in Rome: 30 June - 2 July 2004 Contacts -------- - Cristiano Castelfranchi, Peter McBurney, Andrea Omicini (AL3-TF1 Forum Chairs) tf1-chair@agentlink.org - Andrea Omicini (AL3-WP5 "Technical Forum" Coordinator) wp5@agentlink.org