The special session Decision Economics (DECON) 2016 is a scientific forum by which to share ideas, projects, researches results, models and experiences associated with the complexity of behavioral decision processes aiming at explaining socio-economic phenomena. DECON 2016 held in the University of Seville, Spain, as part of the 13th International Conference on Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence (DCAI) 2016. In the tradition of Herbert A. Simon’s interdisciplinary legacy, this book dedicates itself to the interdisciplinary study of decision-making in the recognition that relevant decision-making takes place in a range of critical subject areas and research fields, including economics, finance, information systems, small and international business, management, operations, and production. Decision-making issues are of crucial importance in economics. Not surprisingly, the study of decision-making has received a growing empirical research efforts in the applied economic literature over the last sixty years. The recognition of the oversimplification and limitations of subjective expected utility theory has produced an extraordinary volume of empirical research aimed at discovering how economic agents cope with complexity. In the centenary of his birth, the international scientific community acknowledges Herbert A. Simon’s research endeavors aimed to understand the processes involved in economic decision-making and their implications for the advancement of economic studies. Within the field of decision-making, Simon’s rejection of standard decision-making models of neoclassical economics inspired social scientists worldwide to develop research programs in order to study decision-making empirically. The main achievements regarded decision-making for individual, firms, markets, governments and institution. There are many scholars in the world that claim that Herbert A. Simon has precipitated something like a revolution in microeconomics focused on the concept of decision-making. Among these scholars are the Editors of this book who believe that very few scientists produce seminal work in more than one field: Herbert A. Simon was one of them, that caliber of genius.

The special session on Decision Economics (DECON) is a scientific forum held annually and intended to share ideas, projects, research results, models and experiences associated with the complexity of behavioural decision processes and socio‐economic phenomena. DECON 2017 was held at the Polytechnic of Porto, ISEP, Portugal, as part of the 14th International Conference on Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence. For the second consecutive year, the Editors of this book have drawn inspiration from Herbert A. Simon’s immense body of work and argue that Simon precipitated something akin to a revolution in microeconomics focused on the concept of decision‐making. Further, it is worth noting that the recognition of relevant decision‐making takes place in a range of critical subject areas and research fields, including economics, finance, information systems, small and international business management, operations, and production. Therefore, decision‐making issues are of fundamental importance in all branches of economics addressed both deductively and inductively. Not surprisingly, the study of decision‐making has seen growing empirical research efforts in the economic literature over the last sixty years and, more recently, a variety of insightful cutting‐edge experimental, behavioural and computational approaches. Additionally, the awareness regarding generalizations and reductions to express economic concepts has led, on the one hand, to an increasing risk of spreading the language of mathematics as a rhetorical tool and, on the other hand, to an oversimplification and overlooking of some crucial details, especially when it comes to human decisions and, hence, economic behaviour. That awareness, however, has helped to produce an extraordinary volume of empirical research aimed at discovering how economic agents cope with complex decisions. In this sense, the international scientific community acknowledges Herbert A. Simon’s research endeavours to understand the processes involved in economic decision‐making and their implications for the advancement of economic professions. Within the field of decision‐making, indeed, Simon’s rejection of the standard decision‐making models used in neoclassical economics inspired social scientists worldwide to develop research programmes in order to study decision‐making empirically. The main achievements concern decision‐making for individuals, firms, markets, governments, institutions, and, last but not least, science and research.

This book is based on the International Conference on Decision Economics (DECON 2019). Highlighting the fact that important decision-making takes place in a range of critical subject areas and research fields, including economics, finance, information systems, psychology, small and international business, management, operations, and production, the book focuses on analytics as an emerging synthesis of sophisticated methodology and large data systems used to guide economic decision-making in an increasingly complex business environment. DECON 2019 was organised by the University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy), the National Chengchi University of Taipei (Taiwan), and the University of Salamanca (Spain), and was held at the Escuela politécnica Superior de Ávila, Spain, from 26th to 28th June, 2019. Sponsored by IEEE Systems Man and Cybernetics Society, Spain Section Chapter, and IEEE Spain Section (Technical Co-Sponsor), IBM, Indra, Viewnext, Global Exchange, AEPIA-and-APPIA, with the funding supporting of the Junta de Castilla y León, Spain (ID: SA267P18-Project co-financed with FEDER funds)

This book presents the outcomes of the special sessions of the 16th International Conference on Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence 2019, a forum that brought together ideas, projects and lessons associated with distributed computing and artificial intelligence, and their applications in various areas. Artificial intelligence is currently transforming our society. Its application in distributed environments, such as the internet, electronic commerce, environmental monitoring, mobile communications, wireless devices, and distributed computing, to name but a few, is continuously increasing, making it an element of high added value and tremendous potential. These technologies are changing constantly as a result of the extensive research and technical efforts being pursued at universities and businesses alike. The exchange of ideas between scientists and technicians from both the academic and industrial sectors is essential to facilitating the development of systems that can meet the ever-growing demands of today’s society. This year’s technical program was characterized by high quality and diversity, with contributions in both well-established and evolving areas of research. More than 120 papers were submitted to the main and special sessions tracks from over 20 different countries (Algeria, Angola, Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and United States), representing a truly “wide area network” of research activity. The symposium was jointly organized by the Osaka Institute of Technology and the University of Salamanca. This year’s event was held in Avila, Spain, from 26th to 28th June, 2019. The authors wish to thank the sponsors: the IEEE Systems Man and Cybernetics Society, Spain Section Chapter and the IEEE Spain Section (Technical Co-Sponsor), IBM, Indra, Viewnext, Global Exchange, AEPIA, APPIA and AIR institute.

This book addresses a broad range of topics, from newly proposed techniques in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning to various applications such as decision-making, pattern classification for data, image and signals, robotics, and control systems. Big data applications are discussed, while improved methods and wholly new methods for using deep learning technologies are also presented. The topics covered are comprehensive and reflect a wide range of technologies in the area. In particular, the latest methods in deep learning approaches and applications are discussed in many parts of the book, providing a better understanding of these new technologies. The book’s general scope includes the latest methods in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for use in distributed computing as well as decision support systems. As the book covers a rather wide area, its intended readership ranges from those working in AI and machine learning technologies to those working on applications utilizing these technologies, researchers new to these areas who need background information on the technologies and applications, and more experienced researchers looking for new methods and applications.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th Conference of the Spanish Association for Artificial Intelligence, CAEPIA 2016, held in Salamanca, Spain, in September 2016. The 47 revised full papers presented were carefully selected from 166 submissions. Apart from the presentation of technical full papers, the scientific program of CAEPIA 2016 included an App contest, a Doctoral Consortium and, as a follow-up to the success achieved in previously CAEPIA editions, a special session on outstanding recent papers (Key Works) already published in renowned journals or forums.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Fuzzy Techniques for Decision Making" that was published in Symmetry