A Multi-Agent System to Support Location-Based Group Decision Making in Mobile Teams
Lima Lee, M. A. Buckland, J. W. Shepherdson · Institution of Engineering and Technology eBooks · 2004
In this chapter, an agent-based approach to developing location-based asynchronous group decision support systems is proposed, mPower (a system based on that approach) is introduced, and the way in which the above challenges can be resolved is discussed. The mPower application adopts a multi-agent system (MAS) approach. The MAS is considered a key technology to support distributed teams. Intelligent, autonomous agents can collaborate to provide opportunities to reduce communications costs, combat information overload, and improve response times [1,2]. The mPower system contains agents that interact to support distributed group decision-making processes. Each user of the system is supported by an agent that acts as their personal assistant, tracking their current position and using that information to automate part of the group decision-making process. The personal agent behaves independently of the user, according to a predefined decision-support policy, negotiating with other agents to exchange information as and when necessary. The autonomous characteristics of multi-agent systems are essential to facilitate asynchronous GDSS, as occasionally users cannot contribute in a timely manner to all the decision-making processes in which they are involved.