Who Does What? Matching Agents to Tasks in Adaptive Workflow.

Abstract

The flexibility of current workflow systems needs to be extended to allow them to operate in more dynamic and uncertain environments. Adaptive workflow systems need to be able to provide intelligent support for the planning and enactment of complex processes; supporting their users in performing flexible and creative tasks, while respecting the norms of the organizations within which they are deployed. We discuss how knowledge about the dynamic context of a process may be represented in terms of roles within tasks, and the remits, authorities, and capability requirements associated with such roles. We outline how this knowledge may be used, together with information about the capabilities of available agents, to support the selection of an appropriate set of agents to fill the roles in a given task. An example is given based on an experimentation task within the chemical process industries. Keywords: adaptive workflow, process management, capability, remit, authority. 1 Introduction ...