A multi-agent based infrastructure to support virtual communities in elderly care Luis M. Camarinha-Matos 1 and Hamideh Afsarmanesh 2 1 New University of Lisbon and Uninova Quinta da Torre – 2829-516 Caparica, PORTUGAL, cam@uninova.pt 2 University of Amsterdam Kruislaan 403 – 1098 SJ Amsterdam – THE NETHERLANDS, hamideh@science.uva.nl Abstract: The growing numbers of elderly population impose an urgent need to develop new approaches to care provision. The convergence of a number of technologies such as multi-agent systems, federated information management, safe communications, hypermedia interfaces, rich sensorial environments, increased intelligence of home appliances, and collaborative virtual environments, represents an important enabling factor for the design and development of virtual elderly support community environments. In this paper, a platform based on mobile agents combined with federated information management mechanisms is introduced as a flexible infrastructure on top of which specialized care services can be built. Keywords: Virtual community, virtual organization, multiagent systems. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Camarinha-Matos, L.M. and Afsarmanesh, H. (2003) ‘A multi-agent based infrastructure to support virtual communities in elderly care’, Int. J. Networking and Virtual Organisations, Vol. X, No. x, pp. xx-yy. Biographical notes: Luis M. Camarinha-Matos received his PhD in Computer Science from the New University in 1989. Currently he leads the group of Robotics and Integrated Manufacturing at the Electrical Engineering Department of the New University of Lisbon. He is also a researcher in the UNINOVA institute where he leads the group of Robotics and CIM. His research interests include virtual organizations, remote supervision systems, multiagent systems in industry, systems integration, and intelligent robotics in which areas he has coordinated many international projects. Hamideh Afsarmanesh received her PhD in computer science from the University of Southern California in 1985. She has joined the Computer Science Department at the University of Amsterdam in 1990. She has been involved and has directed the research in several European (ESPRIT, DUTCH-HPCN, DUTCH-SION) and American funded projects. She coordinates the research and development in the area of Cooperative, Interoperable, and Federated Databases. She has served as the Program Chairperson in International Conferences and Workshops in the area of Information Management and Expert Systems.            