International Symposium of the THESEUS Research Programme

The International THESEUS Symposium aims at establishing collaborations and cross-fertilizations between projects on the Internet of the Future.

A number of countries have set up research programs and projects with different intentions based on different visions of what the Internet of the Future could and should be: Some of the research activities focus on the development of technologies and new standards. Others are more concerned with applications and future use of the internet, or they look at its commercial exploitation. While some programs and projects seem to be complementary in what they do, others seem to overlap.

THESEUS is one of these projects conducted as a joint research project that involves major industries and academic institutions. The European Community funds quite a number of projects and programs with the aim to foster the transnational collaboration on the development of the Internet of the Future. Major initiatives have also been set up in Japan, Australia and on the American continent. We would like to share our vision of the Future Internet as an »Internet of Services« with these initiatives and would like to exchange information about these visions, approaches and technologies for a mutual benefit. The THESEUS Symposium will hopefully also be the take-off point for an International Cooperation Action that will be supported financially later on.

The program falls into two parts:

• In an Executive Session during the first day the program will focus on strategies for developing future technologies and applications for the Internet.
• In a Technology Session during the second day the program will focus on technology hot spots in the development of the Internet of the Future.

The program is meant to create a balance between views in different parts of the world as well as between research and industrial developments, and it will show how different governmental authorities take part in these developments with their funding strategies.

We hope to be able to create an open exchange and would like to extend our warm welcome to the symposium.

Prof. Dr. Herbert Weber
THESEUS Joint Research