Call For Papers

Topics to be covered in the symposium include:

• Representation: how should collective phenomena be represented within some standard (or non- standard) knowledge representation formalism? What account should be given of the ontology of collectives?
• Analysis: By analysing real-world collective phenomena can we formulate a plausible set of principles for collective dynamics?
• Simulation: Can we use these principles to simulate collective phenomena in order to gain a controlled understanding of their dynamics?
• Recognition/Detection : Given data representing the movement patterns of many individuals, can we detect instances of collectivity through recognising various forms of spatial coherence within the data? Can we distinguish between different kinds of collective which owe their spatial coherence to different sources (e.g., internal causation, external causation, purpose, combinations of these)?

Papers are solicited on any of these or related topics. In addition to standard paper presentations, it is proposed to hold a break-out session in which attendees at the Symposium will divide into groups to work on particular topics related to the Symposium theme; for this we would encourage both theoretical discussions and practical work using real data. Any offers of suitable data — typically spatio-temporal data recording the movements of groups of individuals — will be welcomed.

The symposium will also include a joint panel discussion with the symposium on Social Computing— Social Cognition—Social Networks and Multiagent Systems . The proceedings will be produced before the Congress, and each delegate at the Congress will receive, on arrival, a memory stick containing the proceedings of all the symposia. Inclusion in the proceedings will not create a copyright obstacle to later use by the authors.