Soft computing and Web intelligence for supporting consensus reaching

A novel idea and architecture of a group decision support system for reaching consensus in a group of individuals (agents) is proposed. The core of the system is the preferences modeling and consensus assessment module, which is based on fuzzy logic. However, the focus is on providing the members of the group with an information- and knowledge-rich environment, and tools to make an effective and efficient use of such an environment. This should help the agent gain proper opinions about the issues and opinions and/or attitudes of other agents, articulate proper testimonies, actively contribute to the discussion, and finally make sound and informed decisions that can help constructively run the consensus reaching process. For this purpose modern Web-based technologies are employed and tightly integrated with the core of the system.