The Design Principles and Practices of Interoperable Smart Spaces - Advanced Design Approaches to Emerging Software Systems - page 31

ness models? How to estimate the business
impact, markets and acceptability of the
smart space? How to make a contract be-
tween the owners, providers and consum-
ers of a smart space?

cross-domain ontology, i.e. the core ontology of
smart spaces.
The smart space initiation phase of ASSDE
includes the following activities:

• Technical viewpoint: What is the availabil-

ity and maturity of the hardware and soft-
ware needed for realizing smart spaces?
What is the availability of the information
needed for the smart space? What access
and service technologies are available and
applicable? How do these access and ser-
vice technologies provide interoperability?
What kind of interoperability is to be sup-
ported and how?

• The Scoping of the Smart Space . This ac-

tivity results in a set of smart space features
that scopes the boundaries of the space.
For example, a space may be intended for
use in public buildings, but not in private
houses. Public buildings are open to all
citizens and non-citizens. Public buildings
provide infrastructural services that need
to be protected for potential intrusions.
Moreover, the unauthorized use of a pub-
lic building may pose a serious political/
economical threat. Thus, the smart space is
scoped from several viewpoints: the own-
ers, users, provided services, importance,
quality aspects, and risks.

• Organizational viewpoint: What are the

roles of the stakeholders in the smart
space initiation? What are their rights and
liabilities?

Issues related to the smart space initiation
phase concern: What interoperability levels must
be supported and by which technologies? How
to deal with the separation of concerns? What
common technologies are applied? What space
specific technologies are to be developed? Which
domains and cross-domains are to be supported?
What are the issues related to the interoperability
level(s) to be supported, the legacy technologies
to be adapted, and how is flexible and evolvable
interoperability to be achieved?

• Eliciting Smart Space Scenarios . This

activity starts with a brainstorming session
followed by team work for describing each
scenario according to the template defined
for that purpose. After each scenario has
been described in detail, the scenario de-
scriptions are presented to the group that
participated in the initial brainstorming
session. It is also checked that the identi-
fied scenarios cover the scope of the smart
space. In so far as no new comment or idea
has arisen, the scenario descriptions are la-
beled as completed and ready for impact
analysis. Each scenario description defines
the intent, stakeholders, the shared infor-
mation and the actors involved in provid-
ing or/and consuming the information.

Solutions and Recommendations

ASSDE deals with the above issues from the
business and technical view point, by defining
a set of analyses to be made before starting the
smart space establishment. The organizational
viewpoint is handled with a shared set of ontolo-
gies; i.e. we assume that technical, organizational
and domain boundaries can be crossed by using
shared 'standard' knowledge that is accepted by
a set of industry sectors/fields as a foundation of

• Impact Analysis. The outcome of this

activity is a report that explains the add-
ed value which is provided by the smart
space, the stakeholders' interests and the
expected market penetration enabled by
the smart space and by the implementation
of the associated scenario(s). The impact