What Can Agent-Based Computing Offer Service-Oriented Architectures, and Vice Versa?

Wayne Wobcke, Nirmit Desai, Frank Dignum, Aditya Ghose, Srinivas Padmanabhuni, Biplav Srivastava

Abstract: This article serves as a record of a panel discussion held at PRIMA in November, 2010. The panel consisted of two academic and three industry representatives, and thus provided a rare opportunity to discuss the relationship between agent-based computing and service-oriented architectures from both points of view. The basic question for the panel was to identify the key research and industry issues that arise in the deployment of systems based on service-oriented architectures, and in particular to address whether the agent-based computing paradigm offers any resolution of those issues. The question was also posed whether applications based on service-oriented architectures provide a suitable platform for implementing agent-based systems, which are presently limited in application by comparison. This summary is presented with the aim of stimulating further academic and industry collaborative research in this fast growing area which potentially has wide-ranging practical application.