===================================================================
FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS
The 1st Asia-Pacific Conference on
Intelligent Agent Technology (IAT'99)
Hong Kong December 15-17, 1999
http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/IAT99
===================================================================
INTRODUCTION
Intelligent Agents is one of the most exciting, active areas of
research and development in computer science and information
technology today. It is concerned with the study of intelligent
systems capable of perceiving, reasoning about, and adapting to
different task constraints, learning task-specific behaviors, and
delegating tasks in either physical or computational environments.
In real-world applications, the notion of agents should be taken
in its broadest sense, encompassing a wide spectrum of computational
systems. Some of them may be physically embodied, such as robotic
systems that efficiently handle manipulation tasks in the Cartesian
workspace, whereas others may be computationally coded, such as
Internet search agents that proactively search, filter, and analyze
useful information from a highly connected web of Internet servers.
Regardless of their domains of application, autonomous agents often
inhabit in and interact with dynamic, unpredictable environments in
the course of problem-solving. The agents may dynamically acquire
their reactive behaviors based on their experience and hence improve
their problem-solving skills in dealing with similar or even more
complex tasks. They may utilize certain sophisticated mechanisms in
order to cope with the problems of lacking resources and knowledge.
Responding to different local constraints received from their task
environments, the agents can select and exhibit different behavioral
patterns. For instance, in the case of robotic manipulation, the
behavioral patterns of the robots may be directly related to their
coordinated/cooperative local motions in the workspace. Similarly,
in the case of search, the behavioral patterns of the agents may be
reflected in their decisions on in what direction and how much
localized search would become necessary.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The Asia-Pacific Conference on Intelligent Agent Technology (IAT) is
a high-quality, high-impact biannual agent conference series. As the
first meeting in this new series, IAT'99 will primarily focus on (i)
the state-of-the-art in the development of intelligent agents and (ii)
the theoretical and computational foundations of intelligent agent
technology. The aim of IAT'99 is to bring together researchers and
practitioners from diverse fields such as computer science,
information systems, psychology, business, education, human factors,
and/or industrial engineering to (i) examine the design principles
and performance characteristics of various approaches in intelligent
agent technology, and (ii) increase the cross-fertilization of ideas
on the development of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems among
different domains. By encouraging idea-sharing and discussions on
the underlying logical, cognitive, physical, and biological
foundations as well as the enabling technologies of intelligent
agents, IAT'99 is expected to stimulate the future development of
new models, new methodologies, and new tools for building a variety
of embodiments of agent-based systems.
IAT'99 welcomes submissions of original papers. All submitted papers
will go through a careful review process. In addition to technical
paper sessions, IAT'99 will also include a collection of invited talks
from internationally respected speakers, presentation of videos, and
system demonstrations.
TOPICS
The technical issues to be addressed include, but not limited to:
A. Applications:
* data and knowledge intensive domains (e.g., large databases,
Internet, digital libraries, distributed decision making, financial
modeling and engineering, business information systems and process
automation)
* software and interface agents (e.g., personal assistant, translator,
scheduler, information filter, tutor)
* computational intelligence (e.g., pattern analysis and recognition,
imaging, optimization, resource allocation, constraint satisfaction,
planning)
* physically embodied systems (e.g., autonomous robots and groups)
* very-large, complex, integrated intelligent systems
B. Computational Architecture and Infrastructure:
* computational architectures
* ontology models
* agent-level and multi-agent-level infrastructure
* communication languages
* multi-modal systems and interfaces
* protocols
* tools and standards
* heterogeneity and interoperability
* scalability
C. Learning and Adaptation:
* uncertainty management in multi-agent systems
* integrated exploration and exploitation
* long-term reliability
* neural networks
* artificial life
* behavioral selection
* coordinating perception, thought, and action
* behavioral self-organization
* believable lifelike quality
* classifier systems
* evolution and learning in dynamic environments
* adaptation and self-adaptation
* emergent behavior
* evolutionary computation
D. Data and Knowledge Engineering/Communication:
* information filtering
* data mining
* heterogeneous data integration and management
* human-agent interaction
* knowledge discovery
* knowledge sharing
* knowledge aggregation
* reasoning and planning
* adaptation and evolution of knowledge networks
* distributed knowledge systems
E. Distributed Intelligence:
* dynamics of groups and populations
* swarms
* population evolution
* coevolution
* collective group behavior
* coordination and cooperation
* distributed intelligence
* social integration
* market-based computing
F. Formal Theories of Agents:
* formal/computational modeling
* chaotic and fractal dynamics
* computational complexity
* efficiency in distributed systems
* taxonomy of agent environments
* classification and characterization of complex behaviors
* theories of perception, rationality, intention, emotion,
coordination, action, and social behaviors
PAPER SUBMISSION
Four (4) hard copies of the completed paper should be submitted to the
IAT'99 Program Committee Chair by the submission deadline, May 31, 1999.
Each submitted paper must include a title, a 200-300 word abstract, a list
of keywords, the names, mailing addresses, and Email addresses of the
authors, and the main body. The length of submitted paper should not
exceed ten (10) single-spaced, single-column pages including all figures,
tables, and bibliography.
Papers should be submitted to:
Prof. Ning Zhong
Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, Yamaguchi University
Tokiwa-Dai, 2557, Ube 755, Japan
Phone&Fax: +81-836-35-9949
Email: zhong@ai.csse.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp
The submitted papers will be reviewed on the basis of technical
soundness, relevance, originality, significance, and clarity. Accepted
papers are expected to be published in the conference proceedings by
Springer-Verlag in the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series
(LNCS/LNAI). A selected number of IAT'99 accepted papers will be
expanded and revised for inclusion in "Knowledge and Information
Systems: An International Journal" by Springer-Verlag. IAT best paper
award will be conferred on the author(s) of the best papers at the
conference.
VIDEO SUBMISSION
Videos for presentation at IAT'99 should be submitted directly to the
IAT'99 Video and Demo Chair:
Dr. Jianchang Mao
IBM Almaden Research Center
Image and Multimedia Systems, DPE/B3A
650 Harry Road
San Jose, CA 95120, USA
by August 2, 1999. The submissions will be evaluated on the basis of
relevance, significance, and clarity.
Each submitted video should be no longer than 10 minutes and
accompanied by a title page containing a title, a 200-300 word abstract,
a list of keywords, the names, mailing addresses, and Email addresses of
the authors, and a two-page summary of the video contents.
DEMO SESSION
IAT'99 welcomes submissions of research projects, research prototypes,
experimental systems, and potential commercial products for
demonstrations at the conference. Each submission should include a
title page containing a title, a 200-300 word abstract, a list of
keywords, the names, mailing addresses, and Email addresses of the
presenters, and a two-page description of the demo system. Submissions
should reach the IAT'99 Video and Demo Chair:
Dr. Jianchang Mao
IBM Almaden Research Center
Image and Multimedia Systems, DPE/B3A
650 Harry Road
San Jose, CA 95120, USA
by August 2, 1999.
Authors of accepted IAT'99 papers and videos will be invited to
demonstrate their systems at the conference.
It is understood that once a submission is selected for demonstration
at the conference, the presenter(s) of the demo will be responsible for
bringing necessary software/hardware equipment.
IMPORTANT DATES
May 31, 1999 Paper submission deadline
July 31, 1999 Notification of paper acceptance mailed
August 2, 1999 Video and demo submission deadline
September 3, 1999 Notification of video and demo acceptance mailed
September 11, 1999 Camera-ready copies of accepted papers due
November 1, 1999 Cutoff date for early registration
December 15-17, 1999 Conference technical sessions
CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS
The IAT'99 Conference Organizing Committee and International Advisory
Board are as follows:
* Conference Organizing Committee:
Honorary Chair:
Benjamin Wah, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U.S.A.
General Chairs:
Setsuo Ohsuga, Waseda University, Japan
Ernest C. M. Lam, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Program Chairs:
Jiming Liu, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Ning Zhong, Yamaguchi University, Japan
Organizing and Local Chair:
P. C. Yuen, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Publicity Chair:
C. S. Tong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Finance Chair:
C. S. Huang, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Registration Chair:
Kelvin Wong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Video and Demo Chair:
Jianchang Mao, IBM Almaden Research Center, U.S.A.
* International Advisory Board:
Jeffrey Bradshow, The Boeing Company, U.S.A.
Jiming Liu, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Jianchang Mao, IBM Almaden Research Center, U.S.A.
Setsuo Ohsuga, Waseda University, Japan
Tieniu Tan, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Patrick S. P. Wang, Northeastern University, U.S.A.
Xin Yao, Australian Defence Force Academy, Australia
Ning Zhong, Yamaguchi University, Japan
* Program Committee
( to be announced )
FURTHER INFORMATION
Please send suggestions and inquiries regarding IAT'99 to:
Dr. Jiming Liu
Department of Computer Science
Hong Kong Baptist University
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Phone: (852) 2339-7088
Fax: (852) 2339-7892
Email: jiming@comp.hkbu.edu.hk