Software Agent Technology: An Overview

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the rapidly evolving area of software agents and presents the basic aspects of applying the agent technology to virtual enterprises (VE). As the field of software agents can appear chaotic, this chapter briefly introduces the key issues rather than present an in-depth analysis and critique of the field. In addition to, this chapter investigates the application of agent technology to virtual enterprises and presents current research activity that focuses on this field serving as an introductory step. Furthermore, this chapter makes a list of the most important themes concerning software agents and the application of agent technology to virtual enterprises apposing some order and consistency and serve as a reference point to a large body of literature.