Issues in multi-agent systems for e-government applications

In an earlier paper, we introduced an e-government framework based on multi-agent software components as a solution to achieve better access to online services to citizens. In this paper, we define what the “Citizen Agent” in a multi-agent based framework is and how this software entity can be distributed in a government computing cloud. We look at the many challenges of adopting this concept of citizen agent in e-government organizations. We also provide details on how this software entity adapt online and in real-time to environment changes, how it learns from and improve through interaction with other intelligent agents in the information and communication technology infrastructure, and how it can respond in a secured way to requests from government agencies and units.