Agent organisations: from independent agents to virtual organisations and societies of agents

Real world applications using agent-based solutions can include many agents that needs communicate and interact each other in order to meet their objectives. In open multi-agent systems, the problems may include the organisation of a large number of agents that may be heterogeneous, of unpredictable provenance and where competitive behaviours or conflicting objectives may occur. An overview of the alternatives for dealing with these problems is presented, highlighting the way they try to solve or mitigate these problems.