| dc.description.abstract | Workflow management system supports the automation of business processes where a
collection of tasks is organized between participants according to a defined set of rules to
accomplish some business goals. The service-orientated computing paradigm is
transforming traditional workflow management from a close, centralized control system
into a dynamic information exchange and business process. Moreover, agent based
workflow, from another point of view, provides a flexible mechanism for dynamic
workflow coordination at run time. In this context, the combination of Web services and
software agents provides great flexibility to discover and establish relationships among
business partners.
This thesis proposes an agent-based workflow model in support of inter-enterprise
workflow management. In the proposed model, agent-based technology enables the
workflow coordination at both inter- and intra- enterprise levels while semantic Web and
Web services based technologies provide infrastructures for messaging, service
description, service discovery, workflow ontology, and workflow enactment.
Coordination agents and resource agents are used with a Contract Net protocol based
bidding mechanism for constructing a dynamic workflow process among business
partners. The agent system architecture, workflow models and related components are
described. A prototype system is implemented for the purpose of designing and
developing role-feasible agents for simulating the formation process of a virtual
enterprise. | |
