On the Formal Specification of Electronic Institutions

Abstract

In this article we argue that open agent organisations can be effectively designed and implemented as institutionalized electronic organisations ( electronic institutions ) composed of a vast amount of heterogeneous (human and software) agents playing different roles and interacting by means of speech acts. Here we take the view that the design and development of electronic institutions must be guided by a principled methodology. Along this direction, we advocate for the presence of an underlying formal method that underpins the use of structured design techniques and formal analysis, facilitating development, composition and reuse. For this purpose we propose a specification formalism for electronic institutions that founds their design, analysis and development.