Combining FIPA Agents and Web Services for the Design of Tailorable Groupware Architecture

International audienceIn this paper, we present a new groupware architectural model called UD3, which is based on the integration of web services technologies with software agents. The aim is to design a tailorable groupware architecture using the integration of both technologies, thus using properties of each while reinforcing their individual strengths. In fact, agent-oriented technology is claimed to become the next breakthrough in the development and implementation of large-scale complex systems, while Web services are fast emerging technologies for connecting remotely executing programs via well established internet protocols. Web services and agents were originally developed with different standards, thus their integration becomes important in the context of groupware tailorability, giving a totally innovative approach for designing collaborative applications