Agents and multi-agent systems have a role to play in commercial computing and this role will grow. Today the world is interconnected, tomorrow the world will only be more so. This loosely coupled distributed environment is exactly the environment for which agents were created. In parallel with this growth of networked computation is an increase in the sophistication that we, as users, personal or business, expect from our software systems. If it has a processor, we want it connected to the world and doing something useful for us. Agent frameworks, algorithms, or methodologies that support flexible, dynamic, intelligent, or autonomous management of information or resources are potentially commercial discriminators today and are assuredly future discriminators. The agent paradigm can and will make a difference and have impact on commercial computing.

The AAMAS industry track is a special track at the AAMAS conference that runs in parallel with the regular AAMAS scientific track. The track is dedicated to fostering commercial, or real world, impact for agent technologies. The track features presentations, panels, invited talks, and demonstrations from industrial participants, giving them an opportunity to showcase the state of the art in agent technology. The industry track aims to foster mutually beneficial links between those engaged in foundational scientific research and those working to make autonomous agents and multi-agent systems a commercial reality.

This year's track follows on the successful industry track held at AAMAS05 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The AAMAS05 track featured 15 high quality papers, an invited talk by Dr. Mark Greaves of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), and a panel chaired by Dr. Tom Wagner on Developing Impact for Agents. The AAMAS05 papers discussed the application of agent technology to commercial problems, presented case studies, or assessed technology adoption issues. The selection of papers at AAMAS05 was competitive and the best papers were reported in the IEEE Journal of Intelligent Systems.

This year the conference features 15 high quality papers that present applications of multi-agent systems or discuss deployment related aspects of agent technology. Authors include leaders from research and academe but also commercial stakeholders and key decision makers from agent oriented software companies. Specific application areas include the use of agents in space exploration and defense, logistics and supply chain management, medical applications and enterprise information systems. This year's papers also present more technical applications in coordination, collaboration and multi-agent learning. The proceedings also include the lessons, experiences and challenges generated during the operation of AgentLink III - a Co-ordination Action funded by the European Union for Agent Based Computing. The AAMAS06 invited speaker is Steve Benfield of Agentis Software. The industry panel is chaired by Dr. Brad Clement of NASA JPL.

We are glad to see continued strong interest in the industry track. Agents can and will have impact, and it is our job as a community to foster this impact.

Tom Wagner and Michal Pechoucek (industry track co-chairs)
March 2006