The i* (pronounced eye-star) framework for Intentional STrategic Actors Relationships modeling comes from research in the Computer Science department at the University of Toronto 
principally led by Eric Yu .
The i* framework proposes an agent-oriented approach to requirements engineering centering on the intentional characteristics of the agent. Agents attribute intentional properties (such as goals, beliefs, abilities, commitments) to each other and reason about strategic relationships. Dependencies between agents give rise to opportunities as well as vulnerabilities. Networks of dependencies are analyzed using a qualitative reasoning approach. Agents consider alternative configurations of dependencies to assess their strategic positioning in a social context.
The framework is used in contexts in which there are multiple parties (or autonomous units) with strategic interests which may be reinforcing or conflicting in relation to each other. Examples of such contexts include: business process redesign, business redesign, information systems requirements engineering, analyzing the social embedding of information technology, and the design of agent-based software systems.
The name i* (pronounced eye-star) refers to the concept of distributed intentionality.
The Basic i* Notation is available online at the iStar Quick Guide.
There are i* Tools available as open source from University of Toronto, as well as shapes in Dia .
i* is a foundation for the Goal-oriented Requirements Language (GRL) of User Requirements Notation (URN), part of the ITU-T Recommendation Z.151 standard.
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The potential application of iStar in service science was presented at the Human Side of Service Engineering conference in 2012, and published as Lessard, Lysanne, and Eric Yu. 2013. “Service Systems Design: An Intentional Agent Perspective.” Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries 23 (1): 68–75. doi:10.1002/hfm.20513 .