Implementing Social Norms using Policies

Abstract-Multi-agent systems are difficult to develop. One reason for this is that agents are embedded in a society where all agents must agree to obey certain social norms in order for the society to function. Thus, different programmers, writing different agents, must carefully obey certain agreed-upon protocols. This problem is difficult enough due to the complexity of the interactions, but it is exacerbated by the asynchronous and eventbased nature of agent-based systems: agents must asynchronously respond to incoming conversational messages, and may carry on several simultaneous conversations. Several large projects address these issues. Examples are Jade (Telecom Italia) and Cougaar (DARPA). Jade is strictly compliant with the well-known FIPA standard, which makes it useful for commercial agent development and research not directed at certain fundamental aspects of multi-agent systems. Cougaar was developed as a defense agent infrastructure, and while it is not tied to FIPA standards, it is quite prescriptive in both its interagent architecture, and its intra-agent architecture. The contribution of CASA (Collaborative Agent System Architecture) is an agent infrastructure that seeks to support agent development, but as much as possible, avoids restricting the interor intra-agent architecture or the agent interaction paradigm. This paper describes aspects of the CASA tool that mitigate the aforementioned problems for the research-oriented developer who wants to investigate deviations from standards or alternative architectures. CASA provides a policy descriptor language that abstracts the complexities of conversational interactions away from the programming level, and allows sharing of policies among different agents, even at run time. Thus, an agent programmer is free to concentrate on the properties of the agent, and not on the intricate mechanics of conversational protocols. In addition, policies may be easily modified and distributed as the need arises. Thus, a protocol researcher can concentrate on protocols without having to re-write agent behaviour each time the protocol changes. The policy approach is very flexible, and we have developed policies to support the social commitment paradigm, the BDI paradigm, as well as simpler ad-hoc protocols

Materials for the Workshop on a Participatory Process for Transforming Policy into Law

A draft report and outline on a workshop for finding a participatory process for turning policy into law, taught by Ann and Robert Seidman

Knot Ready: Lessons From India on Delaying Marriage for Girls

Examines trends in and predictors of age at marriage. Assesses the effectiveness of ten program and policy interventions, underlying factors, and lessons for expanding viable strategies: empower girls, mobilize communities, and influence decision makers

The complexities of electronic services implementation and institutionalisation in the public sector

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Information & Management. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.Electronic service implementation (ESI) in the public sector attempts to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of governmental departments. Despite having provided the necessary infrastructure and investment, many governments have struggled to realise such aims due to the various forces that challenge implementation and institutionalisation. Using institutional theory as a lens, we explored the forces influencing the implementation and institutionalisation of ESI in the public sector. While our results reinforced previous research in IT implementation and organisational transformation, they showed that the dynamic nature of technology poses unanticipated pressures, and that these can impede the implementation and institutionalisation process

Institutional governance barriers for the development and implementation of climate adaptation strategies

Abstract In this paper we summarise the main social barriers to adaptation presented in climate literature – the inherent uncertainty of climate change, fragmentation, institutional voids, short term horizon of politicians and policies, and the motives and willingness to start adapting. We have linked these topics to theories in public administration to explore if there is interesting overlap that could be beneficial for our understanding of institutional governance barriers for developing and implementing adaptation strategies. We conclude that there are strong interdependencies between what has been signalled in adaptation literature as barriers to adaptation and what has been theorised in public administration literature. However, barriers in the development of adaptation have been hardly discussed in climate adaptation literature. Therefore we argue that in order to understand factors that stagnate the development and implementation of adaptation policy strategies, existing theories of public administration could prove very valuable. Keywords; barriers; adaptation strategies; institutions; governance

Industrial Symbiotic Networks as Coordinated Games

We present an approach for implementing a specific form of collaborative industrial practices-called Industrial Symbiotic Networks (ISNs)-as MC-Net cooperative games and address the so called ISN implementation problem. This is, the characteristics of ISNs may lead to inapplicability of fair and stable benefit allocation methods even if the collaboration is a collectively desired one. Inspired by realistic ISN scenarios and the literature on normative multi-agent systems, we consider regulations and normative socioeconomic policies as two elements that in combination with ISN games resolve the situation and result in the concept of coordinated ISNs.Comment: 3 pages, Proc. of the 17th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2018

Privacy Issues of the W3C Geolocation API

The W3C's Geolocation API may rapidly standardize the transmission of location information on the Web, but, in dealing with such sensitive information, it also raises serious privacy concerns. We analyze the manner and extent to which the current W3C Geolocation API provides mechanisms to support privacy. We propose a privacy framework for the consideration of location information and use it to evaluate the W3C Geolocation API, both the specification and its use in the wild, and recommend some modifications to the API as a result of our analysis

Pursuing Energy-Efficient Behavior in a Regulatory Environment: Motivating Policymakers, Program Administrators, and Program Implementers

This white paper examines how policymakers, program administrators, and program implementers can be motivated to pursue behavioral change in a regulatory environment. For the purposes of this report, behavior change is defined rather broadly, encompassing both behaviors associated with the purchase and installation of energy efficiency technologies as well as behaviors, decisions, and actions that might be thought of as more independent of technology. These include energy use habits, lifestyle choices, and consumption patterns. The insights and lessons discussed in this paper are drawn from a wide variety of sources including interviews with representatives from the energy and utility communities, and program documentation for energy-related programs and projects

Extending the Research on 1:1 Technology Integration in Middle Schools: A Call for Using Institutional Theory in Educational Technology Research

In this essay, we argue institutional lenses are a vital but largely missing part of understanding how 1:1 technology programs can effect change in teaching and learning in middle schools. Indeed, while current research highlights the positive effects technology integration efforts, and 1:1 programs in particular, have on student learning and engagement, much has focused on the knowledge, skills, and beliefs of individuals or groups of actors. There is less research considering how the institutional context may impact teacher and administrator behavior regarding these and other technology-focused efforts thus limiting our ability to fully support schools and teachers in these efforts. We conclude by calling on researchers to use institutional theory to further understand and support implementation efforts and enhance outcomes for schools, teachers, and students alike