Enhancing Cooperation in Distributed Information Systems Using Conviviality and Multi-Context Systems

Modern information systems are characterized by the distribution of information and services among several autonomous heterogeneous entities. A major requirement for the success of such systems is that participating entities cooperate by sharing parts of their local knowledge. This paper presents a novel approach for modeling and enhancing cooperation in distributed information systems, which combines two formal models from the field of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: a conviviality model and Multi-Context Systems. Our aim is two-fold. First, we develop a combined model for context-based representation and cooperation. Second, we provide the means for measuring cooperation leading to the design and evaluation of more convivial systems.