E-Book, Englisch, Band 70, 300 Seiten, eBook
8th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multiagent Systems (PAAMS'10)
E-Book, Englisch, Band 70, 300 Seiten, eBook
Reihe: Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing
ISBN: 978-3-642-12384-9
Verlag: Springer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark
This volume presents the papers that have been accepted for the 2010 edition. These articles capture the most innovative results and this year’s advances. Each paper has been reviewed by three different reviewers, from an international com-mittee composed of 82 members from 26 different countries. From the 66 submissions received, 19 were selected for full presentation at the conference, and 14 were accepted as short papers. Moreover, PAAMS'10 incorporated special ses-sions and workshops to complement the regular program, which included 85 ac-cepted papers.
Zielgruppe
Research
Autoren/Hrsg.
Weitere Infos & Material
Keynote.- Multiagent Modelling and Simulation as a Means to Wider Industrial Deployment of Agent Based Computing in Air-Traffic Control.- Real-Time and Personalisation.- Real Time Learning of Behaviour Features for Personalised Interest Assessment.- A GPU-Based Multi-agent System for Real-Time Simulations.- CLIC: An Agent-Based Interactive and Autonomous Piece of Art.- Collaborative Information Extraction for Adaptive Recommendations in a Multiagent Tourism Recommender System.- An Architecture for the Design of Context-Aware Conversational Agents.- Modelling and Computation.- A Computational Model on Surprise and Its Effects on Agent Behaviour in Simulated Environments.- Enhanced Deliberation in BDI-Modelled Agents.- Cooperative Behaviors Description for Self-* Systems Implementation.- Collaborative Dialogue Agent for COPD Self-management in AMICA: A First Insight.- Methodology and Engineering.- Application of Model Driven Techniques for Agent-Based Simulation.- Using ICARO-T Framework for Reactive Agent-Based Mobile Robots.- REST-A: An Agent Virtual Machine Based on REST Framework.- Detection of Overworked Agents in INGENIAS.- Mobile Agents in Vehicular Networks: Taking a First Ride.- CRISIS Management and Robots.- A Multi-Agent System Approach for Interactive Table Using RFID.- Forest Fires Prediction by an Organization Based System.- Self-adaptive Coordination for Robot Teams Accomplishing Critical Activities.- A Cooperative Communications Platform for Safety Critical Robotics: An Experimental Evaluation.- A Real Time Approach for Task Allocation in a Disaster Scenario.- Development and Evaluation.- ASGARD – A Graphical Monitoring Tool for Distributed Agent Infrastructures.- Comparing Three Computational Models of Affect.- A Generic Architecture for RealisticSimulations of Complex Financial Dynamics.- SinCity 2.0: An Environment for Exploring the Effectiveness of Multi-agent Learning Techniques.- A Tracing System Architecture for Self-adaptive Multiagent Systems.- Search and Problem Solving.- An UCT Approach for Anytime Agent-Based Planning.- Elitist Ants Applied to the Undirected Rural Postman Problem.- Distributed Bayesian Diagnosis for Telecommunication Networks.- Solving an Arc-Routing Problem Using Artificial Ants with a Graph Transformation.- Ambient and Green-by Systems.- Using Situation Calculus for Normative Agents in Urban Wastewater Systems.- Organization Nesting in a Multi-agent Application for Ambient Intelligence.- Advantages of MAS for the Resolution of a Power Management Problem in Smart Homes.- A4VANET: Context-Aware JADE-LEAP Agents for VANETS.- Adaptive Multi-agent System for Multi-sensor Maritime Surveillance.
"The Privatisation of Defence and Security: Risks and Opportunities (p. 63-64)
Nikolaos Tzifakis
Introduction
Over the past years, several states and international organisations have increasingly been entrusting private agencies with tasks such as training, restructuring and modernising armies and police forces; gathering and analysing intelligence; securing military communications; operating technologically advanced military systems; providing military transportation and protecting strategic targets; clearing minefields; and interrogating prisoners. Meanwhile, an ever-increasing number of non-governmental organisations, multinational corporations and individuals are turning to private companies for security services.
The contractor enterprises are either private military companies that participate in actions such as military operations, stabilisation and post-conflict reconstruction of societies and security sector reform,1 or private security companies specialising in the provision of assets and personal protection services.2 The use of coercive force by private agencies is not a novelty. The phenomenon is as ancient as warfare itself (Shearer, 1998, p. 69).
The involvement of mercenaries in armed conflicts has been recorded from the times of ancient Egypt and ancient Greece to our days (Singer, 2001/02, p. 190; Fredland, 2004, p. 206). The Westphalian state as the sole agent of the right to use violence is an exception in history, which in fact existed for a considerable amount of time only in the West.3 The process by which sovereign states expanded and established themselves on a global scale (whose key feature was their monopoly in their territory on the legitimate use of force) was essentially accomplished as late as the twentieth century.
However, the transnational and corporate nature of the current private security sector, as opposed to the freelance and unorganised mercenaries of the past, is unprecedented.5 Although the sector of private military and security companies is extremely diverse (encompassing both local, smallsized enterprises and multinational giants listed on international stock exchanges) (Singer 2003; Cilliers, 2002, p. 146), its overall growth since the end of the Cold War is impressive.
The turnover of private security companies alone rose in 2007 to $165 billion. G4S, the largest private security company in the world, operates in more than 110 countries and has more than 585,000 employees. In 2008, G4S had an annual turnover of £6 billion. 6 MPRI, a subsidiary of L-3 Communications specialising in the provision of military training services, operates in the United States and 40 countries overseas.
MPRI officials have bragged about the fact that their company can muster more (retired) generals than the American army actually has in its service (Leander, 2005a, p. 609). In states as different as the United States, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria and India, the number of private security contractors is much higher than the number of employees in the respective state security agencies (Abrahamsen & Williams, 2009, p. 2). An assessment of the activities of private military and security companies would consider both several actions successfully accomplished and important weaknesses and failures."
