Abstract
Service orientation is a main trend in the development of support infrastructures for collaborative networks, namely in the manufacturing sector. Nevertheless, a literature review still shows the lack of a common understanding of the service concept, namely when we compare the software and business perspectives. As a contribution towards the integration of these two perspectives, this article introduces a conceptual framework based on the notion of representation of services in an ambassador-like manner through the introduction of a proactiveness mechanism. An example scenario and results with a prototype implementation are also discussed.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported in part by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT; Centre of Technology and Systems (CTS) multiannual funding) through the Programa de Investimentos e Despesas de Desenvolvimento da Administração Central (PIDDAC) programme funds, funded by the European Commission. It was also supported in part by the European funded research project ‘BRAID – Bridging Research in Ageing and ICT Development'.