ICT and Telecommunications are converging rapidly in the service market evolution. This convergence is blurring the borders among different application contexts: a telecommunication service could be configured, activated, and controlled by Web applications, or an IT application could include functi…
ICT and Telecommunications are converging rapidly in the service market evolution. This convergence is blurring the borders among different application contexts: a telecommunication service could be configured, activated, and controlled by Web applications, or an IT application could include functionalities implemented by using service capabilities deployed in a telecommunication network. Services should be recognized by Users affordable and available (accessible ubiquitously), personalised, dynamically adaptable. For instance, the rapid absorption of the Web 2.0 participatory philosophy is making users more and more demanding of actively contributing (presumption). At the same time, Providers need to optimise CAPEX-OPEX and to create new market opportunities, even by adopting new business models. In this context, large amounts of highly distributed data need to be transformed into meaningful information available at proper location for applications and services development. In order to address these emerging challenges, innovative information and communication technologies are required. Highly distributed service platforms, empowered with autonomic capabilities, may represent a sound technological approach but their architectural definition is still in infancy and further RT&D activities are required to get open future-proof service frameworks.