B2B collaboration through web services-based multi-agent system

Abstract

Web services open a door for better B2B collaboration in large distributed environment such as Internet. Process-oriented systems like workflow management systems have been taking the main role for web servicebased B2B collaboration in such an environment. However, conventional workflow management systems don't offer complete solutions for B2B collaborations considering many unsolved issues such as security, trust and complex and flexible interaction handling. In this paper, we propose a web service-based multi-agent platform, which can be used as a complementary solution for B2B collaborations. It fits naturally into the B2B interaction model and provides a very loosely coupled open system architecture.