Dynamic consortia formation

set of functionalities to support the formation of goal-oriented networks (virtual organi-zations). It includes selection of partners according to needed competencies, identifi-cation of all potential consortia that can satisfy the VO goals, ranking those consortia according to trustworthiness of their members and alignment of their value systems. It also includes negotiation support in order to establish collaboration agreements for the selected consortium. This subsystem takes into account hierarchical specifications of products (as compositions of sub-products) and allows the formation of a hierarchy of related VOs according to the hierarchical structure of the complex product. Comple-mentarily, an e-notary subsystem is included to support electronic signature of agree-ments and documents certification. Expected value: Flexible mechanism for partners’ selection considering not only competencies matching but also soft issues such as trustworthiness and value sys-tems alignment. User preferences regarding the inclusion of specific partners in the consortium are also considered. The system is designed as a decision-support tool whereas the final decisions are made by the human VO planner. Basic negotiation mechanisms also facilitate the organization of the process of reaching agreements and their electronic signature during VO creation.