Cooperation is often presented as one of the key concepts which differentiates multi-agent systems from other related disciplines such as distributed computing, object-oriented systems, and expert systems. However it is a concept whose precise usage in agent-based systems is at best unclear and at worst highly inconsistent. Given the centrality of the issue, and the different ideological viewpoints on the subject, this was a lively panel which dealt with the following main issues: 3) What sorts of cooperation are you likely to see in real multi-agent systems? How does the degree of autonomy, self interest, benevolence, affect cooperation strategies? What are implications of cooperation? Is it always beneficial, or are there costs associated with it that lead to adverse effects? 4) Must cooperation be motivated a priori or can it emerge or evolve through complex social relationships? Is it meaningful to talk about reactive cooperation and if so, how? 5) Is cooperation a mentalistic or a behavioural notion? Can cooperation be described solely by examining the mental state of the participants (e.g. their beliefs, desires, etc.) or can it only be described by examining their actions (i.e. irrespective of their internal state) or does it require a mixture of the two? 6) What are the key mechanisms and structures which give rise to cooperation and allow it to be sustained? To what extent are these mechanisms and structures necessary? Is it possible to identify a necessary set of conditions for cooperation?The range of answers to these questions were many and varied, however the main cause of such variety was the difference in starting points (see questions 1 and 2)-Franklin offered a broad and all encompassing definition, Norman offered a precise and constrained definition, and Doran was somewhere between the two. The other main points of discussion related to questions 4 and 5.So starting with Franklin. He offers a typology of cooperation b (see figure 1)-placing it in the a. This report is the result of a panel discussion at the First UK Workshop on Foundations of Multi-Agent Systems (held at the University of Warwick on Oct. 23rd 1996). The three panellists and the chairman are the authors of this document and they are listed in alphabetical order.

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