Inter-agent communication

A method is provided for communicating between software agents in a multi-agent system. Communication between agents is defined by means of a conversation model comprising a sequence of defined tasks which, when executed by a software agent, implement one or more roles in an inter-agent conversation. A software agent is provided which, when executed on a computer, is arranged to implement the method, in particular to receive a conversation model, for example one not previously known to the agent, to identify the ontology items used in the conversation model with respect to a defined role to be implemented by the software agent, to determine whether the agent is capable of providing or processing each of the identified ontology items, and if capable, to execute the tasks defined in the conversation model to implement the role.