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Cicero
About Cicero
Cicero is a web-based tool for supporting asynchronous discussions between multiple participants. Cicero is based on the idea of issue based information systems (IBIS) and the DILIGENT argumentation framework. The argumentation framework was further developed in order to make it better usable in practice and easier to understand.
In Cicero, a discussion always starts with defining the issue which should be discussed. Subsequently, the users can propose solutions for the issue and give supporting or objecting arguments for the different solution proposals. But Cicero not only supports the exchange of arguments between its users but also the decision taking process: After a discussion reached a mature state, one can choose between different voting mechanisms for coming to a decision. Thus, the full workflow of design and decision taking processes is supported.
Download
Cicero can be downloaded from http://cicero.uni-koblenz.de/wiki/index.php/Download. A PDF-version of the user manual is available here. A demo installation is available at http://cicero.uni-koblenz.de. It can be accessed with a testing account which allows to explore all of Ciceros functionality.
Argumentation Model
It is the idea of Cicero, to help the user to structure his discussions in a certain way. The structure helps the user in having more efficient discussions. A discussion always starts with defining the issue which should be discussed in the following. Subsequently, different solutions for the issue can be proposed which can be supported or objected by further arguments. This structure of a discussion is taken from the issue based information systems and has already been sucessfully applied in the past.
Additionally, the user can use different argument types like example, evaluation or justification. The argument types are taken from the DILIGENT argumentation framework. First experiments with this argumentation framework showed that especially these argument types help to successfully come to a solution for a given issue.
Furthermore, after a discussion in Cicero, users can take their position with regard to the different proposed solutions. This allows participants of a dicussion to select one of the solution proposals for later implementation in the ontology.
Research Projects
Cicero was developed in the context of the NeOn project.
Contact
Development Team
Sascha Rutenbeck
Kontakt