Sabina Falasconi, Giordano Lanzola and Mario Stefanelli
University of Pavia
Department of Informatics and Systems Science
Medical Informatics Laboratory
Via Ferrata, 1 - 27100 Pavia, Italy
sabina@ipvaimed6.unipv.it; giordano@ipvaimed1.unipv.it; mstefa@ipvstefa.unipv.it
Within knowledge engineering a new research paradigm is emerging based on the Multi-Agent System (MAS) architectural framework, allowing human and software agents to interoperate and thus cooperate within common application areas.
Within a MAS, the different "views of the world" of knowledgeable agents are to be bridged through their commitment to common ontologies and terminologies. In our vision, ontological and terminological services are entrusted to dedicated agents, namely ontology and terminology servers providing other agents with the common semantic foundation required for effective interoperation, and allowing the configuration of suitable application ontologies for distributed applications.