Coordinated multi-agent planning (DWI.6531)

This proposal aims to develop an ICT-based framework to support inter-organizational coordination. In particular, it aims to develop a system to support autonomous planners (i.e., the planning departments of the companies involved) in coordinating their planned activities to enhance their individual and common efficiency.

In this research proposal special attention will be given to privacy and reusability aspects of coordination. This requires a new approach to coordinated planning, since current theories on coordination and planning assume that all parties are willing to share all information. In practice, however, (competing) companies will often refuse to share knowledge. This leads to the requirement that each agent should be able to decide which information to share and when to participate. Furthermore, companies would like to continue using their own planning systems. Therefore, the theoretical kernel of this proposal is the development of a conceptual framework and algorithms for coordinated planning that enable participating companies (i) to maintain their own level of autonomy and privacy and (ii) to reuse their existing planning tools.

The results of this research will be validated empirically. We aim to show that not only the operational costs of the companies involved will be reduced, but that also the customers can benefit: we expect that by coordination companies are able to offer their services more flexibly, more reliably (e.g., by using other companies resources), and for less costs.