************************************************* * First * * CALL FOR PAPERS * * * * The Second Asia-Pacific Conference on * * Intelligent Agent Technology (IAT'2001) * * ======================================= * * * * Maebashi TERRSA, Maebashi City, Japan * * October 23-26, 2001 * ************************************************* IAT'2001 will be jointly held with The First Asia-Pacific Conference on Web Intelligence (WI'2001) ========================== The Asia-Pacific Conference on Intelligent Agent Technology (IAT) is a high-quality, high-impact biennial agent conference series. The second meeting in this conference series follows the success of IAT'99 held in Hong Kong in 1999 (http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/IAT99). IAT'2001 will primarily focus on (1) the state-of-the-art in the development of intelligent agents and (2) the theoretical and computational foundations of intelligent agent technology. The aim of IAT'2001 is to bring together researchers and practitioners from diverse fields, such as computer science, information technology, business, education, human factors, systems engineering, and robotics to (1) examine the design principles and performance characteristics of various approaches in intelligent agent technology, and (2) increase the cross-fertilization of ideas on the development of autonomous agents and multiagent 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'2001 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. TOPICS ====== The technical issues to be addressed include, but not limited to: * 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) - agents in e-commerce and e-business - autonomous agents in science and engineering (e.g. aerospace, survey of the seabed and space) - physically embodied systems (e.g., autonomous robots and groups) - very-large, complex, integrated intelligent systems * 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 * Learning and Adaptation: - soft-computing in multi-agent systems - 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 * 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 * Distributed Intelligence: - dynamics of groups and populations - swarms - population evolution - coevolution - collective group behavior - coordination and cooperation - distributed intelligence - social integration - market-based computing * 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 & PUBLICATION ============================== High quality papers in all IAT related areas are solicited. Papers exploring new directions will receive a careful and supportive review. All submitted papers will be reviewed on the basis of technical quality, relevance, significance, and clarity. Electronic submission is encouraged and preferred. Please send LaTex (MS-Words, or PDF) and PostScript versions of your paper, and an ASCII version of the cover page (in separate email), by March 20, 2001 to: iat01@maebashi-it.ac.jp Four (4) hardcopies of the paper by regular mail are also requested if electronic submission is not possible. Please send hardcopies of your paper by March 20, 2001 to: Prof. Ning Zhong (IAT'2001) Department of Information Engineering Maebashi Institute of Technology 460-1, Kamisadori-Cho, Maebashi-City, 371-0816 Japan TEL&FAX: +81-27-265-7366 E-mail: zhong@maebashi-it.ac.jp The ASCII version of a cover page must include author(s) full address, email, paper title and a 200 word abstract, and up to 5 keywords. Accepted papers are expected to be published in the conference proceedings by World Scientific, An International Publisher, as a hardcover book. A selected number of IAT'2001 accepted papers will be expanded and revised for inclusion in ``Knowledge and Information Systems: An International Journal'' by Springer-Verlag and in "International Journal of Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence" by World Scientific. IAT best paper award will be conferred on the author(s) of the best papers at the conference. DEMO SESSION ============ IAT'2001 also welcomes submissions of research projects, research prototypes, experimental systems, and 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'2001 Demo Chair: Dr. Jianchang Mao (IAT'2001) Verity Inc. 894 Ross Drive Sunnyvale CA 94089, USA E-mail: jmao@verity.com by July 2, 2001 Authors of accepted IAT'2001 papers 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 =============== March 20, 2001 Paper submission deadline May 20, 2001 Notification of paper acceptance mailed June 20, 2001 Camera-ready copies of accepted papers due July 2, 2001 Demo submission deadline August 3, 2001 Notification of demo acceptance mailed October 23-26, 2001 Conference technical sessions CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS ===================== IAT'2001 Conference Organizing Committee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ General Chairs: Setsuo Ohsuga, Waseda University, Japan Jeffrey Bradshaw, Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, USA Program Chairs: Ning Zhong, Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan Jiming Liu, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Demos and Exhibits Chair: Jianchang Mao, Verity Inc., USA Local Organizing Chair: Nobuo Otani, Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan International Advisory Board: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jeffrey Bradshaw, Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, USA Michele L. D. Gaudreault, US Asian Office of Aerospace R&D Daniel T. Ling, Microsoft Corporation, USA Jiming Liu, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Jianchang Mao, Verity Inc., USA Hiroshi Motoda, Osaka University, Japan Setsuo Ohsuga, Waseda University, Japan Patrick S. P. Wang, Northeastern University, USA Yiyu Yao, University of Regina, Canada Ning Zhong, Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan Jan Zytkow, University of North Carolina, USA Program Committee: (to be announced) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Local Organizing Committee: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hisao Machida (Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan) Tadaomi Miyazaki (Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan) Nobuo Otani (Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan) Sean M. Reedy (Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan) Ning Zhong (Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan) Yukio Kanazawa (Maebashi Convention Bureau, Japan) Seiji Murai (Maebashi Convention Bureau, Japan) Kanehisa Sekine (Maebashi Convention Bureau, Japan) Midori Asaka (Information Technology Agency (IPA), Japan) Yoshitsugu Kakemoto (Japan Research Institute, Limited, Japan) CONFERENCE SITE =============== The IAT'2001 and WI'2001 will take place in Maebashi City. Maebashi City is positioned nearly in the center of the Japan Archipelago. Maebashi City is also the center of Gunma Prefecture that is a land of greenery blessed with the wonders of natural beauty and more than a hundred hot springs offering relaxation and peace of mind. Only a hundred kilometers from Japan's capital city of Tokyo and reachable in an hour by bullet train or high-speed expressway, a variety of favorable land conditions lead to flourishing economic activity. IAT'2001 will organize a tour during the conference to a resort hotel with hot spring in Ikaho that is one of the most famous hot springs areas in Gunma. Maebashi City and the neighboring areas in Gunma are expected to further develop into an IT conurbation with highly advanced information technology. FURTHER INFORMATION =================== Please send suggestions and inquiries regarding IAT'2001 to: Prof. Ning Zhong (IAT'2001) Department of Information Engineering Maebashi Institute of Technology 460-1, Kamisadori-Cho, Maebashi-City, 371-0816 Japan TEL&FAX: +81-27-265-7366 E-mail: zhong@maebashi-it.ac.jp -------------------------------------------------------------