This book presents some recent works on the application of Soft Computing techniques in information access on the World Wide Web. The book comprises 15 chapters from internationally known researchers and is divided in four parts reflecting the areas of research of the presented works such as Document Classification, Semantic Web, Web Information Retrieval and Web Applications. This book demonstrates that Web Information Retrieval is a stimulating area of research where Soft Computing technologies can be applied satisfactorily.

This book brings together past experience, current work and promising future trends associated with distributed computing, artificial intelligence and their application in order to provide efficient solutions to real problems. DCAI 2020 is a forum to present applications of innovative techniques for studying and solving complex problems in artificial intelligence and computing areas. This year's technical program will present both high quality and diversity, with contributions in well-established and evolving areas of research. Specifically, 83 papers were submitted to main track and special sessions, by authors from 26 different countries representing a truly "wide area network" of research activity. The DCAI'20 technical program has selected 35 papers and, as in past editions, it will be special issues in ranked journals. This symposium is organized by the University of L'Aquila (Italy). We would like to thank all the contributing authors, the members of the Program Committee and the sponsors (IBM, Armundia Group, EurAI, AEPIA, APPIA, CINI, OIT, UGR, HU, SCU, USAL, AIR Institute and UNIVAQ).

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.

The word consensus has been frequently used for centuries, perhaps millenia. People have always deemed it important that decisions having a long lasting impact on groups, countries or even civilizations be arrived at in a consensual manner. Undoubtedly the complexity of modern world in all its social, technological, economic and cultural dimensions has created new environments where consensus is regarded desirable. Consensus typically denotes a state of agreement prevailing in a group of agents, human or software. In the strict sense of the term, consensus means that the agreement be unanimous. Since such a state is often unreachable or even unnecessary, other less demanding consensus-related notions have been introduced. These typically involve some graded, partial or imprecise concepts. The contributions to this volume define and utilize such less demanding - and thus at the same time more general - notions of consensus. However, consensus can also refer to a process whereby the state of agreement is reached. Again this state can be something less stringent than a complete unanimity of all agents regarding all options. The process may involve modifications, resolutions and /or mitigations of the views or inputs of individuals or software agents in order to achieve the state of consensus understood in the more general sense. The consensus reaching processes call for some soft computational approaches, methods and techniques, notably fuzzy and possibilistic ones. These are needed to accommodate the imprecision in the very meaning of some basic concepts utilized in the definition of consensus as a state of agreement and as a process whereby this state is to be reached. The overall aim of this volume is to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of the issues related to consensus states and consensual processes.

The word consensus has been frequently used for centuries, perhaps millenia. People have always deemed it important that decisions having a long lasting impact on groups, countries or even civilizations be arrived at in a consensual manner. Undoubtedly the complexity of modern world in all its social, technological, economic and cultural dimensions has created new environments where consensus is regarded desirable. Consensus typically denotes a state of agreement prevailing in a group of agents, human or software. In the strict sense of the term, consensus means that the agreement be unanimous. Since such a state is often unreachable or even unnecessary, other less demanding consensus-related notions have been introduced. These typically involve some graded, partial or imprecise concepts. The contributions to this volume define and utilize such less demanding - and thus at the same time more general - notions of consensus. However, consensus can also refer to a process whereby the state of agreement is reached. Again this state can be something less stringent than a complete unanimity of all agents regarding all options. The process may involve modifications, resolutions and /or mitigations of the views or inputs of individuals or software agents in order to achieve the state of consensus understood in the more general sense. The consensus reaching processes call for some soft computational approaches, methods and techniques, notably fuzzy and possibilistic ones. These are needed to accommodate the imprecision in the very meaning of some basic concepts utilized in the definition of consensus as a state of agreement and as a process whereby this state is to be reached. The overall aim of this volume is to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of the issues related to consensus states and consensual processes.