A context-aware approach for service selection using ontologies

Selecting the right parties to interact with is a fundamental problem in open and dynamic environments. The problem is exemplified when the number of interacting parties is high and the parties' reasons for selecting others vary. We examine the problem of service selection in an e-commerce setting where consumer agents cooperate to identify service providers that would satisfy their service needs the most. Previous approaches to service selection are based on capturing and exchanging the ratings of consumers to providers. Contrary to previous, rating-based service selection, this paper advocates an objective experience-based approach for service provider selection, in which consumers record their experiences with service providers rather than the overall, subjective ratings for a provider. A consumer's experience with a service provider is represented using an ontology that can capture subtle details including the context in which the service was requested. When a service consumer decides to share her experiences with a second service consumer, the receiving consumer evaluates the experience using its own context and evaluation criteria. By sharing experiences rather than ratings, the service consumers can model service providers more accurately and thus can select the service providers for their needs more correctly.