[alife] Call for chapters -- Nature Inspired Computing: A New Set of Tools for Management

[Jean-Philippe Rennard]

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Call for Chapters

"Nature Inspired Computing: A New Set of Tools for Management"

A book edited by Pr. Jean-Philippe Rennard

http://www.grenoble-em.com/rennardjp/nicbook/index.html


Introduction

Nobel Prize recipient Illya Prigogine wrote some years ago a book entitled
"The End of Certainty". Specialized in non-linear systems, the great chemist
emphasized in this text the importance of the scientific revolution
initiated a century ago by the French mathematician Henri Poincaré:
scientific certainty inherited from Laplace is a mirage; non-linearity,
complexity and chaos are the new frontiers of science.
The advance of computer science and the remarkable growth of computing power
over the last thirty years have made the computer a fantastic tool to cope
with complexity. The emergence of nature inspired computing is one of the
most amazing achievements of these researches. The universality of the
computing techniques inherited from nature, i.e. their applications as well
in biology, physics, engineering as in economy or management, clearly
demonstrates their depth. These new tools are used in two different ways,
both highly promising for management science and Economy: emergent
(bottom-up) simulations and optimization. Emergent simulations lead to a
better understanding of complex interactions and to original theoretical
approaches. Nature inspired algorithms for optimization lead to efficient,
supple and adaptable tools.

Objectives of the book

Specifically dedicated to management, this book aims to provide a
state-of-the-art synthesis and future trends. At the crossroads of
information science and management, the works that will be presented will
contribute to a better knowledge and a better control of complex dynamics in
firms. By showing the diversity of the potential of nature inspired tools as
well as their conceptual unity, this book will be an original contribution
to the field. By presenting innovative computing tools and theoretical
interpretations, it will provide a significant contribution both to
practitioners and academics. It should bring the first a general knowledge
of the numerous applications of that new field, and contribute to give the
other a global vision of these researches.

Call for Chapters

We are looking for high quality research papers for this book entitled:
"Nature Inspired Computing: A New Set of Tools for Management". Since no
specific book exists on that topic, our objective is to propose a reference
for researchers, students and managers. This book will bring together
researchers in different fields associated to nature inspired computing and
management. It will deal with both theoretical and operational works, and
will highlight significant realizations as well as theoretical advances.

The book will be divided in two main parts:
Part I: Bottom-up simulations and management science will deal with
theoretical achievements allowed by bottom-up simulations.
Part II: Nature Inspired Tools will present operational applications of
nature inspired computing.

Recommended topics include (but are not limited to):

· Management of technology
· Enterprise integration
· Negotiation processes
· Stock market simulation
· Project management
· Pricing strategy
· Market theory
· Information systems
· Operations management
· Supply chain management
· Sites location optimization
· Design and manufacturing
· Marketing strategy
· Data Mining
· Knowledge Management
· Artificial societies
· Artificial creativity
· Emergence and bottom-up simulations theory

Main tools include:

· Evolutionary Algorithms
· Multi Agents Systems
· Swarm Intelligence
· Reactive Artificial Intelligence
· Cellular Automata
· Ants Colony Optimization
· Distributed Artificial Intelligence
· Neural Networks
· Collective robots

We encourage potential contributors to consider also topics not included in
this list according to their specialties.

Submission Procedures

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit a 2-5 page manuscript
before October 25, 2004. The proposals should include tentative title and
clearly explain the concerns of the proposed chapter. Authors will be
notified of acceptance for proposed chapters by October 31, 2004. They will
be sent chapter organizational guidelines and will have to submit full
chapters by February 1, 2005. All submitted chapters will be reviewed by 2-3
reviewers on a double-blind basis. Final accepted revised chapters are due
by June 1, 2005. The book is scheduled to be published by Idea Group, Inc.,
publisher of the Idea Group Publishing, Information Science Publishing, IRM
Press, CyberTech Publishing and Idea Group Reference imprints.

Inquiries and submissions should be sent (preferably electronically) to:

Pr. Jean-Philippe Rennard
Grenoble Ecole de Management
12, rue Pierre Semard
BP 127
38003, Grenoble Cedex
France
NicBook at rennard.org