1. filename\location Agent Mediated Electronic Commerce Dr. Chris Preist HP Labs

2. filename\location The Three Phases of Electronic Commerce Electronic Data Interchange Electronic Marketplaces Agent-Mediated Electronic Commerce

3. filename\location Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Business Partners electronically exchange trading documents in a pre-arranged format. Advantages: Reduced paperwork, faster transactions, easy to automate. Disadvantages: Lock-in to small number of business partners. PurchaserSupplier Purchase order Payment Invoice

4. filename\location Electronic Markets Many potential trading partners meet and negotiate at an internet site. Advantages: Very flexible. More competition, leading to better deals. Disadvantages: Not automated, so slower and more labour-intensive than EDI. E-Market Buyer Seller

5. filename\location Agent-Mediated Electronic Commerce Agents represent buyers and sellers, and can participate in many Electronic markets. Advantages: Best of both worlds – Flexible but automated. Disadvantages: Technology not yet widely accepted. Agent Auction E-Market Buyer Seller

6. filename\location The Stages of E-Commerce Matchmaking Negotiation Contract Fulfilment

7. filename\location List of contacts Matchmaking Buyer Agent Directory Service Purchase goal Request

8. filename\location Negotiation Seller Buyer Agent Seller Agent Auction E-Market A A A A A A

9. filename\location Negotiation Seller Buyer Agent Seller Agent Contract

10. filename\location Contract Fulfilment Seller Buyer Agent Seller Agent Payment Service delivery

11. filename\location Key Technologies for AMEC Interoperability Standards Intelligent Algorithms

12. filename\location Interoperability Standards Service Description Language: An agreed way of describing goods being traded, and the resulting contracts. (e.g. DAML-S) Communication Language: A set of messages with agreed meaning. (e.g. FIPA ACL) Communication Protocol: An agreed set of rules stating who can send what kind of messages, when. (e.g. English Auction)

13. filename\location Intelligent Algorithms How to negotiate with many other agents simultaneously, to reach a good deal (specified in an agreed contract). How to manage the interactions with other parties, according to the various contracts you have entered into.

14. filename\location NEGOTIA – The Problem Tackled Corporate Procurement spends most of its time and effort managing relatively low cost/value purchases. To be competitive, these purchases potentially require simultaneous negotiations with many sellers. Can we automate these effectively, leaving the human experts to focus on the important deals?

15. filename\location The NEGOTIA System Negotia manages all of the simultaneous negotiations necessary to fulfil a purchase. Negotia can participate in multiple 1:1 negotiations and/or multiple auctions. It deploys individual agents in each. Negotia computes the best spread of goods across different sellers. To do this, it considers different possible future scenarios. Negotiation terminates when Negotia has either completed the overall purchase goal or there are no further options to pursue.

16. filename\location How NEGOTIA works Historical data are used to build a belief model of the market keyed on specific goods and suppliers. The belief model is a probabilistic estimate of the outcome of each negotiation and/or auction. Negotia computes the best spread based on the belief model and current state of negotiations. Best spread is updated as negotiations proceed e.g. auctions close or 1:1 negotiations complete. Negotia coordinates the behaviour of a set of agents: one for each negotiation or auction. The agent uses its beliefs together with the spread information to determine its bidding tactics.

17. filename\location Contract Manager – Problem Tackled A business can enter into many contracts with other parties. These contracts place the business under certain obligations and give it certain rights. If a business fails to meet obligations, it may be liable to sanctions. Contractual agreements are often divorced from day-to-day operational decisions. By providing automated decision support to contract management we can prioritise our obligations quickly and effectively. By linking to business automation software (e.g. Workflow) we can improve the quality of operational decisions.

18. filename\location The CONTRACT MANAGER system The system sits on top of an existing B2B execution framework, such as a Workflow system. Contracts are defined (through negotiation) in a structured language of permissions, obligations and sanctions. E.g. “When the seller receives £100 from the buyer, they are obliged to ship the goods within 3 days.” System contains a normative core able to reason about obligations. This decides which are currently active and which have the highest priority. System has a fulfilment module, which maps abstract obligations to (one or more) execution processes which are expected to fulfil the obligations. Different agents using the system communicate via the Contract Fulfilment Protocol to ensure that each agrees that obligations have been successfully met.

19. filename\location contract formation Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Buyer Seller Contract

20. filename\location scheduling of enactment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Add contract and schedule execution Buyer Seller

21. filename\location An obligation is pending Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment An obligation is pending. Its fulfilment is triggered. Buyer Seller

22. filename\location The processes are invoked Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment 4. The processes to fulfil the obligation are retrieved, and invoked on the execution framework Buyer Seller

23. filename\location The processes are executed Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment 5. The processes are executed Buyer Seller

24. filename\location The obligation is fulfilled Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment The obligation is fulfilled Buyer Seller

25. filename\location Signals fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Signals the fulfilment of the obligation (CFP) Buyer Seller

26. filename\location Acknowledge fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Execution Framework Normative Core Formation Fulfilment Acknowledge the fulfilment Buyer Seller

27. filename\location Final Comments Agent Mediated Electronic Commerce aims to create a highly flexible, dynamic and automated business environment on the web. This vision may not be fully realisable – either for technical or business reasons. Nonetheless, the technology currently being developed will increase automation, and reduce lock-in.