Publications on E-commerce

Peng Yew Chow and Guido Governatori.
Representing and reasoning on XForms document. In Klaus-Dieter Schewe and Hugh E. Williams, editors, Database Technology 2004, number 27 in Conference Research and Practice of Information Technology, pages 141-150. Australian Computer Science Association, ACS, 19-21 January 2004. Copyright © 2004 ACS.
Abstract:Forms are the most common way to interface users and Web-based applications. Traditional forms cannot provide the functionality needed to fulfil the requirements of complex applications. As such, there is a need for a more advanced format of forms to support Web-based application. We argued that XForms easily fit into this criterion of forms. In addition, we observed that there is a need for a tool to reason about the forms with respect to user needs and application requirements. We propose to use Description Logic ALCQI to reason about forms generated by XForms.
 
Marlon Dumas, Lachlan Aldred, Guido Governatori, and Arthur H.M. ter Hofstede.
Probabilistic automated bidding in multiple auctions. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, in print. Copyright © 2004 Kluwer.
Abstract:This paper presents an approach to develop bidding agents that participate in multiple alternative auctions, with the goal of obtaining an item with a given probability. The approach consists of a prediction method and a planning algorithm. The prediction method exploits the history of past auctions in order to build probability functions capturing the belief that a bid of a given price may win a given auction. The planning algorithm computes a price, such that by sequentially bidding in a subset of the relevant auctions, the agent can obtain the item at that price with the desired probability. The approach addresses the case where the auctions are for substitutive items with different values. Experimental results show that the approach increases the payoff of their users and the welfare of the market.
 
Marlon Dumas, Lachlan Aldred, Guido Governatori, Arthur H.M. ter Hofstede, and Nick Russell.
A probabilistic approach to automated bidding in alternative auctions. In WWW2002, pages 99-108, Honolulu HI, USA, 7-11, May 2002 2002. ACM, ACM Press.
Abstract:This paper presents an approach to develop bidding agents that participate in multiple alternative auctions, with the goal of obtaining an item at the lowest price. The approach consists of a prediction method and a planning algorithm. The prediction method exploits the history of past auctions in order to build probability functions capturing the belief that a bid of a given price may win a given auction. The planning algorithm computes the lowest price, such that by sequentially bidding in a subset of the relevant auctions, the agent can obtain the item at that price with an acceptable probability. The approach addresses the case where the auctions are for substitutable items with different values. Experimental results are reported, showing that the approach increases the payoff of their users and the welfare of the market.
 
Marlon Dumas, Guido Governatori, Arthur H. M. ter Hofstede, and Phillipa Oaks.
A formal approach to negotiating agents development. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 1 no. 2 pp. 193-207, 2002. Copyright © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V..
Abstract:This paper presents a formal and executable approach to capture the behaviour of parties involved in a negotiation. A party is modeled as a negotiating agent composed of a communication module, a control module, a reasoning module, and a knowledge base. The control module is expressed as a \emph{statechart}, and the reasoning module as a \emph{defeasible logic} program. A strategy specification therefore consists of a statechart, a set of defeasible rules, and a set of initial facts. Such a specification can be dynamically plugged into an agent shell incorporating a statechart interpreter and a defeasible logic inference engine, in order to yield an agent capable of participating in a given type of negotiations. The choice of statecharts and defeasible logic with respect to other formalisms is justified against a set of desirable criteria, and their suitability is illustrated through concrete examples of bidding and multi-lateral bargaining scenarios.
 
Marlon Dumas, Guido Governatori, Arthur H.M. ter Hofstede, and Nick Russel.
An architecture for assembling agents that participate in alternative heterogeneous auctions. In Yanchun Zhang, Amjad Umar, Lim Ee-Peng, and Ming-Chien Shan, editors, RIDE-2EC 2002, pages 75-83, Los Alamitos, CA, 25-26 February, San Jos'e 2002. IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Press.
Abstract:This paper addresses the issue of developing agents capable of participating in several potentially simultaneous auctions of different kinds (English, First-Price, Vickrey), with the goal of finding the best price for an item on behalf of their users. Specifically, a multi-agent architecture is proposed, in which a manager agent cooperates with several expert agents, each specialised in a specific kind of auction. The expert agents communicate their knowledge to the manager agent in the form of probability functions, capturing the likelihood that a bid of a given price may win an auction. Given a set of such functions, the manager agent builds a bidding plan that it executes in concert with the expert agents.
 
Guido Governatori.
Representing business contracts in RuleML. International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems, 14 no. 2-3, June-September 2005, pp. 181-216.
Abstract:This paper presents an approach for the specification and implementation of translating contracts from a human-oriented form into an executable representation for monitoring. This will be done in the setting of \RuleML. The task of monitoring contract execution and performance requires a logical account of deontic and defeasible aspects of legal language; currently such aspects are not covered by \RuleML; accordingly we show how to extend it to cover such notions. From its logical form, the contract will be thus transformed into a machine readable rule notation and eventually implemented as executable semantics via any mark-up languages depending on the client's preference, for contract monitoring purposes.
 
Guido Governatori.
A logic framework of normative-based contract management. In Satoshi Tojo, editor, Fourth International Workshop on Juris-informatics (JURISIN 2010), November 18-19 2010.
Abstract: In this paper an extended Defeasible Logic framework is presented to do the representation and reasoning work for the normative-based contract management. A simple case based on FIDIC is followed as the usage example. This paper is based on the idea that normative concepts and normative rules should play the decisive roles in the normative-based contract management. Those normative concepts and rules are based on the normative literals and operators like action, obligation, permission and violation. The normative reduction is based on the normative concepts, normative connections and normative rules, especially on the superiority relation over the defeasible rules.
 
Guido Governatori, Marlon Dumas, Arthur H.M. ter Hofstede, and Phillipa Oaks.
A formal approach to protocols and strategies for (legal) negotiation. In Henry Prakken, editor, Procedings of the 8th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law, pages 168-177. IAAIL, ACM Press, 2001, Copyright © 2001 ACM.
Abstract:We propose a formal and executable framework for expressing protocols and strategies for automated (legal) negotiation. In this framework a party involved in a negotiation is represented through a software agent composed of four modules: (i) a communication module which manages the interaction with the other agents; (ii) a control module; (iii) a reasoning module specified as a defeasible theory; and (iv) a knowledge base which bridges the control and the reasoning modules, while keeping track of past decisions and interactions. The choice of defeasible logic is justified against a set of desirable criteria for negotiation automation languages. Moreover, the suitability of the framework is illustrated through two case studies.
 
Guido Governatori, Joris Hulstijn, Règis Riveret, and Antonino Rotolo.
On the representation of deadlines in a rental agreement. In Arno R. Lodder and Laurens Mommers, editors, Legal Knowledge and Information Systems, pages 167-168. IOS Press, Amsterdam, 2007.
Abstract: The paper provides a conceptual analysis of deadlines, represented in Temporal Modal Defeasible Logic. The typology is based on the following parameters: kind of deontic operator, maintenance or achievement, presence of explicit sanctions, and persistence after the deadline. The adequacy of the typology is validated against a case study of a rental agreement.
 
Guido Governatori and Zoran Milosevic.
A Formal Analysis of a Business Contract Language. International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems 15, in print. Copyright © 2006 World Scientific Press.
Abstract: This paper presents a formal system for reasoning about violations of obligations in contracts. The system is based on the formalism for the representation of contrary-to-duty obligations. These are the obligations that take place when other obligations are violated as typically applied to penalties in contracts. The paper shows how this formalism can be mapped onto the key policy concepts of a contract specification language, called Business Contract Language (BCL), previously developed to express contract conditions for run time contract monitoring. The aim of this mapping is to establish a formal underpinning for this key subset of BCL.
 
Guido Governatori and Zoran Milosevic.
Dealing with contract violations: formalism and domain specific language. Proceedings of EDOC 2005. IEEE Press, 2005, pp. 46-57. Copyright © 2005 IEEE.
Abstract:This paper presents a formal system for reasoning about violations of obligations in contracts. The system is based on the formalism for the representation of contrary-to-duty obligations. These are the obligations that take place when other obligations are violated as typically applied to penalties in contracts. The paper shows how this formalism can be mapped onto the key policy concepts of a contract specification language. This language, called Business Contract Language (BCL) was previously developed to express contract conditions of relevance for run time contract monitoring. The aim of this mapping is to establish a formal underpinning for this key subset of BCL.
 
Guido Governatori, and Zoran Milosevic
An Approach for Validating BCL Contract Specifications In Claudio Bartolini, Guido Governatori, and Zoran Milosevic (eds). Proceedings on the 2nd EDOC Workshop on Contract Architecures and Languages (CoALa 2005). Enschede, NL, 20 September 2005. IEEE Press.
Abstract:We continue the study, started in [5], on the formal relationships between a domain specific contract language (BCL) and the logic of violation (FCL) proposed in [6,7]. We discuss the use of logical methods for the representation and analysis of business contracts. The proposed analysis is based on the notions of normal and canonical forms of contracts expressed in FCL. Finally we present a mapping from FCL to BCL that can be used to provide an executable model of a formal representation of a contract.
 
Guido Governatori, Zoran Milosevic, and Sahzia Sadiq
Compliance checking between business processes and business contracts 10th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (EDOC 2006). IEEE Press, 2006, pp. 221-232. Copyright © 2006 IEEE.
Abstract: It is a typical scenario that many organisations have their business processes specified independently of their business contracts. This is because of the lack of guidelines and tools that facilitate derivation of processes from contracts but also because of the traditional mindset of treating contracts separately from business processes. This paper provides a solution to one specific problem that arises from this situation, namely the lack of mechanisms to check whether business processes are compliant with business contracts. The central part of the paper are logic based formalism for describing both the semantics of contract and the semantics of compliance checking procedures.
 
Guido Governatori, and Duy Pham Hoang
DR-CONTRACT: An Architecture for e-Contracts in Defeasible Logic In Claudio Bartolini, Guido Governatori, and Zoran Milosevic (eds). Proceedings on the 2nd EDOC Workshop on Contract Architecures and Languages (CoALa 2005). Enschede, NL, 20 September 2005. IEEE Press.
Abstract:In this paper we present an architecture to represent and reason on e-Contracts based on the DR-device architecture supplemented with a deontic defeasible logic of violation. We motivate the choice for the logic and we show how to extend RuleML to capture the notions relevant to describe e-contracts for a monitoring perspective in Defeasible Logic.
 
Guido Governatori and Duy Pham Hoang
A Semantic Web Based Architecture for e-Contracts in Defeasible Logic. In A. Adi, S. Stoutenberg and S. Tabet, editors, Rules and Rule Markup Languages for the Semantic Web. RuleML 2005, pages 145-159. LNCS 3791, Springer, Berlin, 2005. The original pubblication is available at www.springerlink.com.
Abstract: We introduce the DR-CONTRACT architecture to represent and reason on e-Contracts. The architecture extends the DR-device architecture by a deontic defeasible logic of violation. We motivate the choice for the logic and we show how to extend \RuleML to capture the notions relevant to describe e-contracts for a monitoring perspective in Defeasible Logic.
 
Guido Governatori and Duy Hoang Pham.
DR-CONTRACT: An Architecture for e-Contracts in Defeasible Logic<. International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management, 5(4), 2009.
Abstract: We introduce the DR-CONTRACT architecture to represent and reason on e-Contracts. The architecture extends the DR-device architecture by a deontic defeasible logic of violation. We motivate the choice for the logic and we show how to extend RuleML to capture the notions relevant to describe e-contracts for a monitoring perspective in Defeasible Logic.
 
Guido Governatori and Antonino Rotolo.
Modelling contracts using RuleML. In Thomas Gordon, editor, Legal Knowledge and Information Systems, volume 120 of Frontieres in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, pages 141-150, Amsterdam, 2004. IOS Press.
Abstract:This paper presents an approach for the specification and implementation of e-contracts for Web monitoring. This is done in the setting of RuleML. We argue that monitoring contract execution requires also a logical account of deontic concepts and of violations. Accordingly, RuleML is extended to cover these aspects.
 
Guido Governatori and Antonino Rotolo.
An algorithm for business process compliance. In Enrico Francesconi, Giovani Sartor, and Daniela Tiscornia, editors, Legal Knowledge and Information Systems (Jurix 2008), Frontieres in Artificial Intelligence and Applications 189, pages 186-191. IOS Press, 2008.
Abstract: This paper provides a novel mechanism to check whether business processes are compliant with business rules regulating them. The key point is that compliance is a relationship between two sets of specifications: the specifications for executing a business process and the specifications regulating it.
 
Guido Governatori and Antonino Rotolo.
A conceptually rich model of business process compliance. In Sebastian Link and Aditya Ghose, editors, 7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Conceptual Modelling (APCCM 2010), CRPIT. ACS, 2010.
Abstract: In this paper we extend the preliminary work developed elsewhere and investigate how to characterise many aspects of the compliance problem in business process modeling. We first define a formal and conceptually rich language able to represent, and reason about, chains of reparational obligations of various types. Second, we devise a mechanism for normalising a system of legal norms. Third, we specify a suitable language for business process modeling able to automate and optimise business procedures and to embed normative constraints. Fourth, we develop an algorithm for compliance checking and discuss some computational issues regarding the possibility of checking compliance runtime or of enforcing it at design time.
 
Guido Governatori, Arthur H.M. ter Hofstede, and Phillipa Oaks.
Defeasible logic for automated negotiation. In P. Swatman and P.M. Swatman, editors, Proceedings of CollECTeR. Deakin University, 2000. Published on CD.
Abstract:Negotiation plays a fundamental role in e-commerce. In this paper, the application of defeasible logic for automated negotiation is investigated. Defeasible logic is flexible enough to be adapted to several possible negotiation strategies, has efficient implementations, and provides a formal basis for analysis (e.g. to explain why a negotiation was not successful). Two case studies, one small and one more comprehensive, will be described and the feasibility of approaches based on defeasible logic will be discussed.
 
Guido Governatori, Arthur H.M. ter Hofstede, and Phillipa Oaks.
Is defeasible logic applicable?. In Grigoris Antoniou and Guido Governatori, editors, Proceedings of the 2nd Australasian Workshop on Computational Logic, pages 47-62, Brisbane, January 2001. Queensland University of Technology.
Abstract:In this paper the application of defeasible logic for automated negotiation is investigated. Defeasible logic is flexible enough to be adapted to several possible negotiation strategies, has efficient implementations, and provides a formal basis for analysis (e.g. to explain why a negotiation was not successful). Two case studies, one small and one more comprehensive, will be described and the feasibility of approaches based on defeasible logic will be discussed.
 
Guido Governatori, Subhasis Thakur, and Duy Hoang Pham.
A compliance model of trust. In Enrico Francesconi, Giovani Sartor, and Daniela Tiscornia, editors, Legal Knowledge and Information Systems (Jurix 2008), Frontieres in Artificial Intelligence and Applications 189, pages 118-127. IOS Press, 2008.
Abstract: We present a model of past interaction trust model based on compliance of expected behaviours.
 
Aqueo Kamada, Guido Governatori, and Shazia Sadiq.
Transformation of SBVR compliant business rules to executable FCL rules. In Mike Dean, John Hall, Antonino Rotolo, and Said Tabet, editors, RuleML 2010: 4th International Web Rule Symposium, number 6403 in LNCS, pages 151-159, Berlin, 2010. Springer. © 2010 Springer.
Abstract: The main source of changing requirements of the dynamic business environment is response to changes in regulations and contracts towards which businesses are obligated to comply. At the same time, many organizations have their business processes specified independently of their business obligations (which include adherence to contracts laws and regulations). Thus, the problem of mapping business changes into computational systems becomes much more complicated. In this paper we address the problem by providing an automated transformation of business rules into a formal language capable of directly mapping onto executable specifications. The model transformation is consistent with MDA/MOF/QVT concepts using ATL to perform the mapping. Business rules are compliant to SBVR metamodel, and are transformed into FCL, a logic based formalism, known to have a direct mapping onto executable specifications. Both, source and target rules are based on principles of deontic logic, the core of which are obligations, permissions and prohibitions.
 
Aqueo Kamada, Guido Governatori, and Shazia Sadiq.
SBVR based business contract and business rule IDE. In Monica Palmirani, Omair Shafiq, Enrico Francesconi, and Fabio Vitali, editors, Proceedings of the RuleML-2010 Challenge, at the 4th International Web Rule Symposium, number 649 in CEUR Workshop Proceedings, pages 8.1-8.8, 2010.
Abstract: We propose an IDE – Integrated Development Environment to model SBVR (Semantic of Business Vocabulary and Business Rule) compliant business rules [2] extracted from business contract of services and store them in an ontological structure of rules, facts and terms as defined in the SBVR metamodel. Business rules are based on principles of deontic logic for treating expressions in the form of normative policies. Deontic constraints express what parties to the contract are required to perform (obligations), what they are allowed to do (permissions), or what they are not allowed to do (prohibitions).
 
Kalliopi Kravari, Grammati-Eirini Kastori, Nick Bassiliades, and Guido Governatori.
A contract agreement policy-based workflow methodology for agents interacting in the semantic web. In Mike Dean, John Hall, Antonino Rotolo, and Said Tabet, editors, RuleML 2010: 4th International Web Rule Symposium, number 6403 in LNCS, pages 223-237, Berlin, 2010. Springer. Copyrigth © 2010 Springer.
Abstract: The Semantic Web aims at automating Web content understanding and user request satisfaction. Intelligent agents assist towards this by performing complex actions on behalf of their users into real-life applications, such as e-Contracts, which make transactions simple by modeling the processes involved. This paper, presents a policy-based workflow methodology for efficient contract agreement among agents interacting in the Semantic Web. In addition, we present the integration of this methodology into a multi-agent knowledge-based framework, providing flexibility, reusability and interoperability of behavior between agents. The main advantage of our approach is that it provides a safe, generic, and reusable framework for modeling and monitoring e-Contract agreements, which could be used for different types of on-line transactions among agents. Furthermore, our framework is based on Semantic Web and FIPA standards, to maximize interoperability and reusability. Finally, an e-Commerce contract negotiation scenario is presented that illustrates the usability of the approach.
 
Thomas Skylogiannis, Grigoris Antoniou, Nick Bassiliades, and Guido Governatori.
{DR-NEGOTIATE} -- a system for automated agent negotiation with defeasible logic-based strategies. In Proceedings of The 2005 IEEE International Conference on e-Technology, e-Commerce and e-Service, 2005. EEE'05., pages 44-49. IEEE Press, 29 March -- 1 April 2005 2005, Copyright © 2005 IEEE.
Abstract:This paper reports on a system for automated agent negotiation. It uses the JADE agent framework, and its major distinctive feature is the use of declarative negotiation strategies. The negotiation strategies are expressed in a declarative rules language, defeasible logic and are applied using the implemented defeasible reasoning system DR-DEVICE. The choice of defeasible logic is justified. The overall system architecture is described, and a particular negotiation case is presented in detail.
 
Thomas Skylogiannis, Grigoris Antoniou, Nick Bassiliades, Guido Governatori and Antonis Bikakis.
DR-NEGOTIATE — A System for Automated Agent Negotiation with Defeasible Logic-Based Strategies. Data & Knowledge Engineering: 2007. Copyright © 2007 Elsevier B.V.
Abstract: This paper reports on a system for automated agent negotiation, based on a formal and executable approach to capture the behavior of parties involved in a negotiation. It uses the JADE agent framework, and its major distinctive feature is the use of declarative negotiation strategies. The negotiation strategies are expressed in a declarative rules language, defeasible logic, and are applied using the implemented system DR-DEVICE. The key ideas and the overall system architecture are described, and a particular negotiation case is presented in detail.
 
Miao Wang and Guido Governatori.
A Logic Framework of Normative-based Contract Management. Formal Methods in Electronic Commerce 2007. Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. June 4, 2007.
Abstract: We explore of the feasibility of the computationally oriented institutional agency framework proposed by Governatori and Rotolo testing it against an industrial strength scenario. In particular we show how to encode in defeasible logic the dispute resolution policy described in Article 67 of FIDIC.