Holonic systems provide a powerful paradigm for modeling complex, distributed, and autonomous systems. However, their deployment in large-scale, heterogeneous environments raises challenges related to coordination, semantic alignment, bias migration, ethical reasoning, and real-time adaptation. This paper extends classical holonic architectures by introducing five complementary holon dimensions: effective, understanding, unbiased, vigilant, and ethical holons. Each dimension targets a specific capability required for resilient and socially responsible system behavior. These capabilities range from sustainability-aware decision-making and contextual understanding to bias mitigation and situation awareness. To enable coherent operation across autonomous and heterogeneous holons, this paper proposes to integrate federated interoperability as a foundational architectural principle. A dedicated federated interoperability holon (FIH) is proposed to dynamically manage technical and semantic interoperability. It also supports on-the-fly ontology alignment through short-lived ontologies as well as orchestrates coordination among specialized holons without centralized control. The framework is analyzed through a holon-based simulation approach, where holons act as autonomous simulation entities and are instantiated as High Level Architecture (HLA) federates. The applicability of the proposed framework is illustrated through a rural mobility use case focused on transportation systems. In this scenario, holonic coordination supports decision-making regarding multimodal integration, routing strategies, and the identification of mobility deserts. Overall, this work advances holonic system design by proposing an integration of specialized holon roles with federated interoperability mechanisms. It provides a scalable foundation for adaptive and socially aligned systems in domains such as mobility, smart territories, and enterprise ecosystems.
Daou et al. (Mon,) studied this question.