Agent-Based Information Logistics

Situated and context-sensitive information logistics surface as decisive requirement for supporting critical care units, because information relevant for patient treatment stems from heterogeneous as well as distributed data sources. Immediate treatment starts with an incomplete and almost empty array of information which fills continuously over time by examinations conducted by organizationally as well as geographically distributed departments. Agent technology and multiagent systems appear as a promising enabling technology to improve information logistics in intensive care units. However, an overall development methodology is required that enables an engineering process from the capture of know-how about clinical processes towards a model-based generation of multiagent systems. This contribution reports on an agile development methodology used for the design, implementation and testing of applications for agent-based information logistics.