Formal Modelling of Dynamic Coalitions, with an Application in Chemical Engineering

Dynamic coalitions are temporary alliances formed between agents in order to achieve specific business goals. Such coalitions can vary widely in architecture, scale, complexity and lifetime. Few techniques have so far emerged to assist in the analysis and design of coalitions. We apply formal model- oriented techniques to help structure the space of dynamic coalitions, with an emphasis on modelling information flow. A series of models is developed in VDM, each emphasising a different "dimension" of the space. These are used to characterise a new dynamic coalition architecture under development for the chemical engineering industry. Tool-supported analysis of this formal model has identified potential improvements in the coalition architecture.