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Ubiquitous Computing: toward understanding Europeanstrengths and weaknesses

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Citation for published version (APA):Miles, I. D., Flanagan, K., & Cox, D. (2000). Ubiquitous Computing: toward understanding European strengths andweaknesses. University of Manchester.

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Ubiquitous Computing:

Toward understanding European Strengths and Weaknesses

European Science and Technology Observatory Report

Ian Miles Kieron Flanagan

Deborah Cox

Based on research conducted by PREST, University of Manchester, UK

OST, France CM International, France Fondazione Rosselli, Italy

ITA, Austria VTT, Finland IPC, Ireland

December 2000 (Revised December 2001)

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Ubiquitous Computing: Toward understanding European Strengths and Weaknesses

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Ubiquitous Computing (UC) promises to transform the role of IT in our world, making it a far more pervasive and routinely applied set of technologies and services. This report explores the visions behind UC, identifies the agents that are seeking to articulate and realise these visions, and provides a preliminary mapping of European strengths and weaknesses in the field, taking as a starting point the IPTS Futures Project Technology Roadmap. Among other sources of data we use assessment of European strengths and weaknesses in Foresight and critical technologies studies, and on measures of activity in the field demonstrated by web presence and conference participation. Such sources demonstrate that there is a good deal of European R&D activity associated with the UC concept - particularly in the UK, Germany, Netherlands and Nordic countries. Indeed, some of the firms and researchers involved appear to be at the forefront of developments. Thus, whilst United States researchers, institutions and companies have pioneered much of the vision of UC, and whilst Japanese firms are highly active in certain fields, our analysis of secondary sources and surveys of strengths and weaknesses (notably the French key technologies study) suggests that Europe can play a substantial role in shaping the emerging realities of UC. As importantly, the exploratory study reported herein demonstrates that there is real scope for using such methods to “map” the shape of a research area in Europe.

What is Ubiquitous Computing?

Ubiquitous Computing (UC) is a vision that is rapidly being turned into a reality. It is a vision of the future of Information Technology (IT) and its use. Essentially, the vision is one in which IT and its applications are available in a vastly expanded range of circumstances; and where the applications are elaborated to cover many more areas of everyday life and economic affairs. This is a vision that implies much more than a new technology-based device (like the mobile phone) or a new application area (like e-commerce). Rather, it implies dramatic transformations in the patterns of use and functionality of IT. For the purposes of the study we define UC as involving:

The provision of access to appropriate material selected from large-scale information resources (e.g. databases), and/or the provision of access to high-capacity information-processing power (remote, local or portable/wearable), to users in effectively any situation, location, or at any time, by means of any of a range of media and/or devices, and by means of any of a range of user-friendly interfaces.

UC is an English-language term, of course, and translations of this and related concepts in other European languages are uncommon (though not unknown). The reference point for UC research remains largely American (where the concept has been most elaborated). Relevant technologies and applications are not always being developed under the UC rubric, however. The study confirms that there are real European strengths in many of the underpinning

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technologies and application areas. Because what is involved in UC is essentially a paradigm change, the focus cannot be restricted to one particular sector, one particular underpinning technology. This creates considerable challenges for analysis of the current and prospective development of UC and of European strengths and weaknesses in the field. Key players may not even set out themselves to link their capabilities in technologies and application areas to UC. The likelihood of so doing is liable to be influenced not only by linguistic considerations, but also by market and cultural conditions – which may make it more important to stress immediate capabilities than to hold out visions of the future, for instance.

Data sources for analysis of UC

First, several existing studies and reviews shed some light on European strengths and weaknesses in the key technology and application areas. Most notably, the IPTS Technology Map for Ubiquitous Computing integrates results from Foresight activities in European countries. The project reported herein similarly intended to take recent Foresight results as a starting point. However, in the period between the IPTS Technology Map being produced and this study commencing, only the French Key Technologies Programme has provided any new expert judgements concerning European capabilities in specific technology areas. The other main foresight activity to have occurred in the intervening period, namely the second round of the UK Foresight programme, has steered away from systematic assessment of strengths and weaknesses in favour of broad prospective comment. Thus the original aim of updating the IPTS Roadmap could not be met on the basis of Foresight reports alone. This is not to say that a comparison of the French findings with the roadmap is of no interest. The IPTS analysis suggests that Europe is generally perceived to be rather weak in most of the broad categories of technologies felt to be key to the UC vision1. In contrast, the French Key Technologies study considers the European position in many of the enabling technology areas to be relatively strong, not only in scientific and technological position, but also in industrial and commercial respects. Similarly, a more detailed analysis of the IPTS Technology Map suggests that Europe may actually be very well positioned in at least some of the key technologies required for realisation of the UC vision: Europe is seen to be well positioned in the areas of mobile/wireless Internet applications, and (possibly) for the Personal Digital Assistant concepts; areas of weakness include aspects of artificial intelligence and chip manufacture, mass memory storage and (flat screen) display technologies. It is unwise to place too much reliance on such results, which appear to display evidence of local biases – and even the assessment of weaknessses may be challenged (for instance our own research suggested that there are certainly European research strengths in areas such as novel display technologies - though the commercialisation of these strengths may be a different matter). Other published data sources that proved relevant included the results of the CONVAIR project – an ACTS project which explored the future of the European telecommunications industry. Whilst the project co-ordinators were in finalising this revised version of the report, several further relevant documents became available. These include major reviews of strengths and weaknesses in UK ICT research in academia2 and in industry3, and the results of

1 For example, the Japanese Foresight study rates the US as the leading country, followed by Japan and with the EU much further behind, whilst in the German Foresight study, the (German) respondents considered Germany itself to be close to Japan (the US remained in the lead), and with the rest of the EU lagging considerably. 2 Scheneider & Rodd (eds), 2001, International Review of UK Research in Computer Science (EPSRC/IEE/BCS). 3 Howells et al, 2001, UK R&D Strenghts in IT, Electronic and Communications (ITEC) and Creative Content Industries, PREST/CRIC report to DTI Information Age Partnership.

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a study conducted in parallel with this one which mapped user interfaces technology for small computing devices4.

In addition to literature review, a Web search methodology has been developed to identify key clusters of research activity and expertise in the UC field. (Identification of individual experts generally proved easier within the University sector than in the commercial sector, whose individual researchers tend not to have the same public profile.)

The web searches used a range of search engines covering different national (or language-group) areas of the World Wide Web, and deploying a variety of searching and indexing techniques. They drew on a series of terms connected with UC. Although French, German, Flemish, Finnish, Swedish and other linguistic variants of the key search terms were all employed, these produced no useful results: and most of the links generated by the search processes were to pages in the English language. The UC vision seems to be predominantly articulated in English. Interest in Ubiquitous Computing (as a concept or vision) proves to be, not surprisingly, very heavily concentrated in the US, with some areas of interest in countries such as Japan and Canada. Within Europe, Germany and the UK provide particular concentrations of activity , as, to a lesser extent, do other Northern European countries such as the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden.

An important caveat here is that the language of the UC vision itself has been used to identify the research-active groups; it may miss out on many other centres of expertise in key enabling technologies for UC - but these constitute a large proportion of the core technologies of the IT sector as a whole. Our study has searched specifically for those researchers and research groups who have actively made the link to the vision of UC: these are likely to be precisely the people who will be pioneering new combinations of enabling technologies, business models and application areas to flesh out that vision. A useful tool developed as part of the broader web search methodology involved first locating relevant conferences and then identifying (from conference programmes) evidence of activity by European researchers. A large number of conferences and workshops relate to aspects of UC and its key enabling technologies; the European countries emerging as active in these conferences are the UK, Germany, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. Italy is also well represented, but slightly less so than the other countries. Surprisingly, French-speaking countries seem more poorly represented than the Northern European countries. Summary The study details our results on a European and country-by-country basis. It suggests that there is a rich and extremely complicated pattern of activities and expertise in UC and related fields across Europe. It also provides a directory, of sorts, of key players in the field. In general the main technology strengths seems to lie in Northern Europe, as indicated above. The methods used appear to be more successful in locating academic researchers and groups than commercial actors, which may reflect the actual concentration of efforts, or may have

4 Hendraja, 2001, Ubiquitous Computing: Technological mapping of small computer devices user interface, Unpublished M.S.c Dissertation, PREST, University of Manchester.

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more to do with the propensity of the different sectors to invest in representing themselves on the Web.

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1 Definitions Ubiquitous computing is one of a number of terms that have been introduced in recent years in an effort to describe what some people believe is an emergent phase of application of new Information Technologies (IT- we include here the communications technologies highlighted by the acronym, IT). Among the other terms that are used we should mention “pervasive computing”, “disappearing computing” and “ambient intelligence”. Related ideas include “sentient” and “wearable” computing. All of these terms are intended to signify the notion that Western societies are gradually evolving towards a situation where there will typically be many computing devices per user. Such IT will be embedded in equipment of all sorts (and even in things we do not consider as equipment, such as walls, furniture, clothing… and in disposable items as well as in valuable ones). The IT is part of the environment instead of being something that has to be carried around or travelled to. It will typically be networked, capable of communication with other devices and remote users. For some commentators we are already over the threshold into this world; for others it is a vision which may not fully materialise until well into the next decade of this century. (The difference between these viewpoints is largely a matter of disagreement as to how much of the capabilities of UC need to be realised before we can truly say that we are in this brave new world.) The critical thing here is that what is commonly envisaged is not simply another application of IT; it is not even a wide-ranging application area or technology like robotics, transport telematics, or sensor technologies. The vision is essentially one of a paradigm change in the use of IT, just as the move from mainframes to desktop PCs and portable laptops meant a radical shift in such dimensions as:

• Who used the technology • What skills were required • What interfaces were provided • What applications were developed and diffused • Who generated these applications, and who provided support services of various kinds • The scale and nature of user markets for hardware, software, services • The content media supported by the technology • The interpersonal and interorganisational communications they supported • Their incorporation into different spheres of living and working.

These are, of course, extremely important parameters. To be in on the ground floor of such a paradigm change will normally offer considerable advantages in developing sophisticated suppliers and users alike. To the extent that the vision of UC is convincing, this clearly constitutes an important field for both industrial strategy and science & technology policy. However, the vision also creates considerable challenges for researchers trying to explore its development, current and prospective. Precisely because we are talking about a paradigm change, we are not able to focus on one particular sector, one particular underpinning technology. Rather we are attempting to engage with a development that will necessarily draw upon a wide range of underpinning technologies – indeed potentially the entire range of IT components and systems, and a good share of technologies within which IT can be

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embedded – and reach a vast range of applications. Such is the challenge of ubiquity: how to begin research, since the topic is literally “everywhere”? In particular, the objective of assessing European strengths and weakness in UC, poses a specific problem. Capabilities in the underlying technologies, or in gearing these technologies toward specific application areas, may not (as yet) be clearly linked to the UC vision by those possessing the capabilities - or those assessing them in studies of the sectors involved. It might be argued that the failure to make such a link is itself telling us something about capabilities: if the new paradigm is going to be so important, should not aware companies be already indicating their eagerness to contribute to shaping it? But this argument assumes that all actors will find it in their interests to promote such an identification. In practice, this is liable to be extremely variable according to market and cultural conditions. To raise finance and find customers it may be more important to stress immediate capabilities, than to hold out visions of the future, for instance. Or a particular concept may be avoided because it is seen as being too closely associated with a specific firm or industry, or even because it is “too US-centric”. Another potential difficulty is that the term “UC” may have achieved different levels of currency in different countries. And the actors themselves may not be convinced by the vision of UC as currently articulated, they may disagree with the precise terminology – but still be contributing in important ways to some aspects of UC (e.g. “wearable computers”). Working Definition of UC For the purposes of the study we propose to define UC thus:

The provision of access to appropriate material selected from large-scale information resources (e.g. databases), and/or the provision of access to high-capacity information-processing power (remote, local or portable/wearable), to users in effectively any situation, location, or at any time, by means of any of a range of media and/or devices, and by means of any of a range of user-friendly interfaces.

Enabling Technologies and Application Areas for Ubiquitous Computing Following initial research, and drawing upon the list of KETs compiled for the Information Society Technologies Advisory Group working party on ‘Ambient Intelligence’, as well as upon the key technologies for identified in the IPTS Ubiquitous Computing Technology Map, we produced a list of key enabling technologies, some or all of which might be expected to underpin the UC vision in one way or another. As well as a list of potentially key enabling technologies, we required a feel for the possible applications of UC. Based on existing standard classifications we developed the following categorisation of generic areas in which the UC vision might be applied. Tables 1 and 2, below, respectively set out key enabling technologies for underpinning the UC vision, and generic application areas in which this vision might be applied

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TABLE 1: KEY ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING APPLICATIONS

Inputs natural language input; more sophisticated visual and speech inputs

Storage very powerful memory systems, including those of very small physical size

Transmission and Telecommunications

ATM; Intelligent Networks; cellular mobile voice and data communications; wireless broadband

Processors ultra- large-scale integration; biochips; optical chips

Output devices electronic ink

Visual Displays large flat screens; virtual reality displays, both portable and large-scale

Actuators chematronics, mechatronics; nanotechnology devices of many sorts and at various size levels

Software visual programming; Internet delivery of programs; widespread use of expert systems, neural

net systems, and other sorts of “intelligence” within programs and to produce new software

Systems processing speeds of giga and tera instructions per second; High levels of systems integration,

access to information networks by numerous devices

Energy and Other Supplementary

Technology

lightweight, long life rechargeable batteries; low-energy chips; energy conserving software;

application of biosciences and nanotechnology to UC

Middleware multi-layered architectures; open standards for cross platform interoperability

Multi-domain network management

self reconfiguring networks

Trust and confidence generating technologies

privacy supporting applications and system architectures; authentication and encryption tools

Integrated appliances and applications

multifunctional wrist-watch communication devices / personal assistants; individualised

education / knowledge retrieval assistants

Table 2: Generic application areas for the Ubiquitous Computing vision

1 Personal care, health, eldercare, childcare 6 Education

2 Leisure and entertainment 7 Office and similar work

3 Household management 8 Production work

4 Transport and mobility 9 Financial & transactional activities: “E-commerce”

5 Built environment and construction 10 Public administration: “E-Government”

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2 Exploring European Capabilities, Strengths and Weaknesses Publicly available data sources and surveys, current or prospective Part of the approach taken in this study has been to draw up the results of existing studies and reviews in order to build up a picture of European strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the key technology and application areas identified overleaf. A key way in which the existing IPTS Technology Map for Ubiquitous Computing, itself the starting point for this study, was developed involved the examination of results from Foresight activities in European countries in order to extract any useful information about strengths and weaknesses. Since the technology map has been produced, the UK Foresight Programme’s Information, Communication and Media Panel, and the French Key (or Critical) Technologies Programme, have both produced new reports. The UK report makes no attempt to deal with technological or application-related capabilities in any but the most general of ways, and so contains no new information to add to that contained within the Technology Map. (A new and detailed Spanish Foresight report also has little material of relevance to UC: the IT sections have a very short-range focus.) However, the French data are more promising: a specific feature of the Key Technologies Programme is the rating, by experts, of the strength of both French and European capabilities in specific technology areas. It is thus possible to take these new data and compare them with the IPTS UC Technology Map (which in turn drew upon the previous Key Technology Programme’s results, amongst other studies). The IPTS UC Technology Map makes the judgements about strengths and weaknesses depicted in Table 3.

Table 3 Results of the UC Technology Map

Semiconductors Mostly moderate to weak, though with some strengths

Storage Mostly weak to very weak

Batteries Very weak

Communications Mostly weak to moderate

Display Weak to very weak

Artificial Intelligence Moderate with some weaknesses

Integrated devices and applications

Mostly moderate to weak, though with some strengths

Source: IPTS Technology Map

As can be seen, then, the IPTS analysis of Foresight studies suggests that Europe is generally perceived to be rather weak in most of the broad categories of technologies thought to be key to the UC vision. As IPTS notes, the Japanese Foresight study rates the US as the leading country overall, with Japan rated some distance behind the US and the EU rated much further behind Japan. In the German study, the assessment of Germany’s position by the (German)

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respondents was closer to that of Japan, with the US still in the lead. However, the rating given to the rest of the EU was very much lower. In contrast, the French Key Technologies study seems to be rather more generous to the European position in many of the enabling technology areas identified as potentially important earlier in this report. The methodology asks for a rating of both Europe’s scientific and technological position, and its industrial and commercial position, in each field. Also encouragingly, the study suggests that, contrary to much conventional wisdom, in many cases the technical and commercial positions of Europe in these technology areas are fairly evenly matched. The table reproduced below (Table 4) extracts those technology areas that are regarded as most relevant for the UC vision, indicating the rating of the European position for both of these factors.

Table 4 French Critical Technologies Study: European Position in Key Enabling

Technologies for UC

Key Enabling Technology

Position of Europe

strong medium weak

(1) embedded intelligence ■■■■

virtual & interactive reality ■■■■

intelligent identificators, autonomously communicating objects ■■■■

real time transmission of multimedia contents ■■■■

software engineering & componentware ■■■■

intelligent homes ■■■■

(2) middle-ware & distributed systems ■■■■

big server networks ■■■■

integration of appliances, XML & other evolved languages ■■■■

(3) IP mobile & wireless ■■■■

portable digital assistants ■■■■

(4) multi-domain network management ■■■■

quality of IP service ■■■■

(5) converging core and access networks ■■■■

high transit backbone networks ■■■■

(6) micro- and opto-electronics ■■■■

silicon micro-electronics ■■■■

optic-electronic & photo-components ■■■■

search engines & intelligent indexation ■■■■

micro-electronics III V ■■■■

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batteries, micro-energy ■■■■

mass memories ■■■■

flat screens ■■■■

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Table 4 (continued) Key Enabling Technology

Position of Europe

strong medium weak

(7) trust and confidence enabling tools ■■■■

(8) cross media content ■■■■ authoring systems for creating multimedia contents ■■■■

(9) multi-modal and adaptive interfaces ■■■■ virtual & interactive reality ■■■■ (10) multi-lingual dialogue mode ■■■■ linguistic & vocal technologies ■■■■ Legend scientific & technical position

■■■■ industrial & commercial position

Source: Rapportage Technologies-Clés 2005. Ministère de l’économie et de l’industrie. Paris, 2000.

It can be seen from the above, and from the looking at the more detailed findings of the IPTS Technology Map, that Europe may actually be very well positioned in at least some of the key technologies likely to be important in enabling the UC vision to become a commercial reality. European strengths in mobile communications (e.g. Nokia, Ericsson) and consumer electronics (e.g. Philips) may be an explanation for the assessment that Europe is well positioned in the areas of mobile/wireless Internet applications, and for the Personal Digital Assistant concept. (However, the latter is again an area identified as one of weakness by the IPTS Map. Other areas of weakness identified in the IPTS Map include aspects of artificial intelligence and chip manufacture, though again the Key Technologies study seems to indicate that the European position in these areas is generally simply average.) However the two studies are agreed on the position with regard to mass memory storage and (flat screen) display technologies. (Even this may be challenged: European research has been important in the initial development of LCD and related display technologies (for instance that of DERA, the former UK defence research agency), although such technologies were commercialised outside Europe. The same may be true for new display technologies such as foldable polymer displays, where some UK firms are active in early developments. As well as the national foresight studies already mentioned, the results of the CONVAIR project – an ACTS project which explored the possible evolution of the European telecommunications industry – are also relevant to this study. This study produces many relevant estimates of dates at which certain capabilities will be achieved or diffused. Unfortunately, as with the recent report(s) produced by the UK ICM panel, and by many other countries, the CONVAIR report concentrates largely on timelines and critical policy issues, and contains no systematic analysis of European strengths and weaknesses.

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Whilst the final revised draft of this report was being produced, several further relevant information sources became available. These include major reviews of strengths and weaknesses in UK ICT research in academia5 and in industry6, and the results of a study conducted in parallel with this one which mapped user interfaces technology for small computing devices7. Though the first two are UK-centric, they nonetheless are very relevant to the content of this study, and are therefore worth considering in some detail. UK Computer Science – an international review Based on a peer review by an international panel of computer scientists, this report highlights a series of strengths and weaknesses of UK academic research in computer science. Most of the weaknesses (and threats) identified are structural – relating to lack of funding, poor salaries and infrastructure, or lack of ‘critical mass’ within computer science departments. However, the panel do identify specific strengths and weaknesses: UK strengths identified by the panel

Logic, semantics and formal methods Programming language design Trustworthiness and security technologies Architectures and algorithms for the design of real-time and embedded systems Speech engineering and computational linguistics, machine learning, artificial neural networks, computer vision and automated reasoning Human-computer interaction UK weaknesses identified by the panel

Algorithms and complexity research Experimental computer systems The areas of weakness identified are seen mainly as the product of a lack of critical mass in those areas, but the more generic system weaknesses identified by the peer panel were felt to be threatening the UK’s strengths even in the areas identified above. In particular, the smaller proportion of research funding spent on computer science research relative to the US, Japan and European nations such as France and Germany, was highlighted as an issue. Of particular relevance to the UC paradigm are the stated strengths in trustworthiness and security technologies (for which Cambridge, Oxford, Newcastle and York universities were particularly highlighted); long-standing strengths in text retrieval research; speech engineering and computational linguistics (Cambridge, Ediburgh, Sheffield, Brighton, Cambridge, Essex, Sussex and UMIST); artificial neural networks ; computer vision (Oxford and Imperial College); automated reasoning; and human-computer interaction (Imperial, UCL, Loughborough, Glasgow and UMIST). Also of relevance are the weaknesses identified in relation to experimental systems building and work on new database paradigms; and the lack of a critical mass in terms of data retrieval technologies for non-textual data (despite some leading-edge work on speech searching at Cambridge) compared

5 Scheneider & Rodd (eds), 2001, International Review of UK Research in Computer Science (EPSRC/IEE/BCS). 6 Howells et al, 2001, UK R&D Strenghts in IT, Electronic and Communications (ITEC) and Creative Content Industries, PREST/CRIC report to DTI Information Age Partnership. 7 Hendraja, 2001, Ubiquitous Computing: Technological mapping of small computer devices user interface, Unpublished M.S.c Dissertation, PREST, University of Manchester.

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with the US. The report also notes that, whilst the US is at the leading edge of graphics and simulation research, the UK leads the world in computer games design, and argues that the UK should therefore expand research in the graphics field. UK R&D Strengths in ITEC and Creative Content Industries This second study, conducted by a team from PREST and our sister organisation the ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC), looked at industrial R&D strengths for IT and communications research in the UK. By means of a major survey of UK ITEC firms, and the secondary analysis of existing data, the study team found that the UK was particularly strong in communications R&D, in both hardware and network management software aspects. The study also notes a strong presence in: Internet; user application software; middleware; photonic components; and microelectronics. Togther these areas account for more than half (53%) of the R&D effort of UK firms. Defence; transport; e-commerce; manufacturing and robotics; finance, banking and accounting; and education and training were found to be the most intensively covered application areas, accounting fro 46% of the surveyed R&D effort which was ascribed to a particular application area. Even in industry however, the study found that many respondents had difficulty in ascribing individual application areas to the often generic technologies they were developing. More broadly the study notes that the UK has a rather large ITEC sector in comparison with many other countries, but that this sector contains an unusually large service component. It could be argued that this might at least partly explain why government data suggests that the UK ITEC R&D sector has a low R&D spend as a proportion of turnover (R&D intensity) relative to other countries. The study also noted a number of structural issues for UK ITEC research and commercialisation, some of which mirror the findings of the review of academic computer science research discussed above. A final source of rather more anecdotal information was a futures-oriented issue of MIT’s Technology Review, (December 2000) which, whilst focusing mainly on the US situation, does demonstrate that its authors consider certain European centres of excellence to be leaders in specific technologies which might be important for UC applications. These include the development and use of novel materials for the manufacture of integrated circuits or display systems, and the development of powerful ‘data-mining’ techniques. In particular, the Review stresses the importance of one laboratory – the former Olivetti Research Laboratory in Cambridge, UK (now AT&T Laboratories Cambridge ), which pioneered the ‘active badge’ concept, and which is now working on "sentient computing" . (In this, the infrared-emitting active badges are replaced by ultrasound transmitters, dubbed "bats". Since ultrasound provides far more precise positioning data than does infrared, bats make it possible to construct a computer model that follows people, objects and their relations to each other). Identifying European research strengths using the Web as a tool In order to identify key clusters of research activity in the field of Ubiquitous Computing in Europe, a Web search methodology has been developed. In this, the terminology of ubiquitous computing has been used as a first step to identify the research activity sites of interest. The Web based mapping enables easy identification of key areas of interest; as UC

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is a developing concept it will be of continuing relevance to examine the evolution of the association of areas of research with the term “UC” (for example, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, human computer interaction and communications technologies). This will help us think about and understand the developing paradigm of ubiquitous computing. Identification of the key sites has facilitated the identification of experts in the field. This has generally proved easier within the University sector than in the commercial sector, where individual researchers tend not to have the same public profile. The Method The key terms used in the web searches conducted by the project partners (using a range of search engines covering different national - or language-group -parts of the Web, and deploying a variety of indexing techniques) were as follows:

• Ubiquitous computing • Pervasive computing • Invisible computing • Wearable computing • Smart clothes • Ambient Computing • Disappearing Computing • Context-awareness • Context-aware computing • Augmented-reality technologies • Smart Environments

Issues with the methodology Perhaps surprisingly, French, German, Flemish, Finnish, Swedish and other linguistic variants on the key terms (for instance ubiquite informatique) produced few useful results. In addition, most of the links generated by the search processes, conducted for a range of European countries, were to pages in the English language. The UC vision seems to be predominantly an English-speaking one. The reasons for this deserve further analysis. Not so surprisingly, the search process was found to generate a large number of redundant hits. A significant further number of hits were newspaper and magazine articles covering the UC vision, and many were links to the writings of Mark Weiser, coiner of the term ‘Ubiquitous Computing’. Thinking about the overall results geographically, interest in Ubiquitous Computing (as a concept or vision) proves to be, not surprisingly, very heavily concentrated in the US. There are also some areas of interest in countries such as Japan and Canada. Within Europe a large number of hits point to Germany and the UK , and other Northern European countries such as the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. The web-search methodology adopted means that centres identified are self-selecting, as the language of the UC vision itself has been used to identify the research-active sites of interest. In many ways this is a far from satisfactory methodological position but, given the scale of the study it would be absolutely impossible to proceed by scanning for the key enabling

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technologies themselves – the list of KETs for the UC vision in many ways constitute the core technologies of the IT sector as a whole. That being the case, a search for KETs would constitute an effort to map the competences of the IT sector as a whole – something simply impossible to do, even in a project many times the size of this one. We have therefore had no alternative but to restrict the focus of the study, simply in order to make it manageable. Thus we have searched for those researchers and research groups who have actively made the link to the UC vision by adopting one or another of the terms listed above. It is our position that these are precisely the people who will be pioneering new combinations of enabling technologies, business models and application areas to flesh out the vision, and they are certainly the best placed to respond to our expert questionnaire, which asks them to rate Europe’s strengths and weaknesses in the various KETs and application areas identified above. However, another consequence of restricting the search methodology to the phrases listed above concerns the danger of under-reporting of certain kinds of actor or organisation. Generally, as we have already noted, it is reasonable to assume that the web survey methodology is likely to under-represent industry research activities, for the reason that industrial researchers, particularly in smaller firms, are much less likely than academic computer scientists to publish details of their research projects on the World Wide Web. One of the most useful tools developed as part of the web search methodology proved to be that of searching first for relevant conferences and then within the conference programmes for evidence of activity by European researchers. A surprisingly large number of conferences and workshops related to variants of the UC vision and its key enabling technologies exist, and those European countries that seem to be most active in these conferences are the UK , Germany, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. Italy is also well represented, but slightly less so than the other countries. Surprisingly, French-speaking countries seem more poorly represented than the Northern European countries. Analysis of conference attendance also provided another way to identify industry actors, though this approach may be subject to the same caveats regarding under-reporting as the main keyword search approach.

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3 Mapping UC Key Enabling Technology activities in Europe The mapping exercise, as described above, was largely web-based. The results, presented in abbreviated form below and described and documented more fully in an annex to this report, complement those of the secondary sources discussed in earlier sections. They suggest that Germany, then the UK, followed by Northern European nations such as Netherlands, France, Belgium, Austria and Sweden, are the main locations for university or other public sector research into UC KETs in Europe. The results for firms (subject to the provisio that this method is likely to systematically under-report industrial R&D activities) show a similar Northern European bias. Summary of Results Italy, Spain, Portugal Mobile computing, user interfaces, and natural language processing are among the KET areas covered by research in Italian universities in Genova, Milano and Torino, whilst CNR are active in sensors, microsystems and generic multimedia applications. A number of smaller firms (such as Ubiquity) are focusing on applying KETs to specific application areas (in this case mobile computing platforms) whilst there are a number of larger firms who are research active in general ITEC areas. In Spain, industrial research seems to be largely in the field of software development, whilst in Portugal the UC search terms drew a blank – though there is certainly some work in Portugese universities in the KETs. Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway Scandinavia has made a considerable impact on the development of co-operative and user-centred design, and Nordic countries are notable for driving the development of mobile communications devices through Nokia and Ericsson. In Finland a research cluster exists in Tampere, focusing on HCI and ‘personal electronics’ such as wearable computing. At the Helsinki Institute of Information Technology there is a Future Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing Research Programme, whilst at the Helsinki University of Technology work has focused on trust technologies. Finnish company research, not surprisingly, is dominated by Nokia. In Sweden, HCI, computer and network architectures and distributed computing are focuses of university research whilst, needless to say, Ericsson is a prominent industrial player. In Denmark, HCI, interactivity and personal communications are research focuses, whilst in Norway, some activity has been identified in control systems relating to wearable computing. Telenor, the Norwegian company, is involved in a range of relevant research collaborations and is the home for the country’s largest IT research establishment. Germany, Austria and Switzerland Germany accounts for a large proportion of the research activity identified by this survey. Groups located at universities such as Karlsruhe, Aachen, Rostock, Bremen and Stuttgart all seem to be important competence centres for UC8. In Switzerland, ETH Zurich seems to hold a similar position (whilst groups at Geneva and Lausanne are also active). Also very important in the German context is the GMD, the national research institute for IT. A number of GMD institutes are heavily involved in research relevant to UC. These institutes also appear to be well linked into the main university research groups. In Austria too, a range of university and public research institutes show up in the survey (including FAW Linz, ARCS and Joanneum). The survey methodology shows up comparatively fewer hot spots for industrial activity for

8 The international review of UK computer science research also notes the scale and breadth of German university computer science research in comparison with that of the UK.

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these three countries, and these tend to be relatively small and specialised firms – with the major exception of IBM Zurich laboratories. Netherlands The survey shows human factors research activity in TNO, and a range of research in universities in Amsterdam, Delft (TU Delft), Twente and Eindhoven. In terms of industrial research, NatLab, the R&D laboratories of Philips, are extremely important, and are themselves closely linked with TU Eindhoven. France and Belgium In France, CNRS is not surprisingly very important, as is INRIA. The French survey also showed up a number of firms, ranging from telecoms companies (Alcatel) and consumer electronics companies (Thomson) to Gemplus. In Belgium, research consortia such as DESS bring together academic and industry partners (including Agfa-Gevaert and Barco) to work on problems such as real-time and embedded systems. University research centres on Brussels, Louvain, Limburg, Ghent, Naumr and Liege. United Kingdom The UK web survey highlighted research in UC KETs at a number of UK universities, notably Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL, Lancaster, Glasgow, Bristol and the Open University, and suggests that strengths lie in multi-modal human interaction, VR, agent technology, context-aware applications, sentient computing, middleware platforms, deploymeny frameworks and distributed mobile applications. The International Review of UK Computer Science confirms that areas such as HCI, natural language recognition, computer vision, neural networks and trust technologies are UK strengths. In terms of industrial research, several key organisations stand out, namely AT&T Cambridge laboratories (a world centre of research into UC relevant applications such as ‘active badge’ technology) and Hewlett-Packard European R&D Centre at Bristol. Summary Interest in Ubiquitous Computing (as a concept or vision) proves to be, not surprisingly, very heavily concentrated in the US, with some areas of interest in countries such as Japan and Canada. Within Europe, Germany and the UK provide particular concentrations of activity , as, to a lesser extent, do other Northern European countries such as the France, Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. Major academic research efforts exist in institutes such as the GMD in Germany, INRIA in France, and FAW in Austria, and in many universities in the Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Scandinavia. Major players in industry research seem to be AT&T Cambridge labs, HP Labs in Bristol, IBM in Zurich, Philips NatLab in Eindhoven, and the research centres of Nokia and Ericsson in Finland and Sweden.

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4 Summary and Conclusions This study is very much a pilot study of UC activities. UC is a field where the terminology is unstable, the technology rapidly-changing, and the range of technologies and applications wide. Even so, Web search methods can uncover a great deal of information about the levels and styles of activity being pursued across Europe. There is considerable scope for extending such methods further. Of course they could be extended to other areas of technology, but within the UC field (or components of it), future studies could take up some of the following lines of analysis. First, the social networks and patterns of influence among agents can be studied through the traces these leave in the web (e.g. which pages are linked to from other sites, which papers are cited). Second, the patterns of activity and interaction revealed by conference presentations and attendance can be subject to more detailed study. Third, it is possible to extend the web analysis in breadth – e.g. by systematic analysis of US and other non-European sites – and depth – detailed examination of the lines of work pursued by different actors (for example, one recent MSc study has developed detailed information simply on the topic of user-interface R&D performed by commercial actors). Web techniques are exciting new research tools, but their imperfections mean that they need to be accompanied by: survey research – in the course of this study we attempted to survey the experts we located as to their views on strengths and weaknesses, but the response rate was too low to provide meaningful results. More effort in this direction would be well worthwhile. Other methods that should prove valuable are panel and group workshops (these can allow for detailed dialogue as to areas of strength and weakness), and examination of expert views as indicated in Foresight an other studies. (Such studies are continuing to proliferate and will probably focus on UC-relevant topics increasingly in the future). This study has not been able to bring out a prospective perspective as fully as hoped, largely due to the limitations of the secondary data sources utilised. Not only have few foresight studies been published since the production of the original IPTS technology map: those which have have tended to avoid explicit projections about future strengths and weaknesses in favour of highlighting broader socio-economic scenarios into which technological developments might fit. Nonetheless, sources such as the reviews of UK academic and industrial IT research discussed above, do point to certain issues that may need to be addressed in the future – principally systemic issues concerning funding, priorities, critical mass and academic-industry linkages. These issues are generic ones, and are not simply problems for UC or computer science more generally. They also not evenly applicable across a Europe in which the overall R&D effort is concentrated in a small number of Northern European nations. Some corroboration for the findings of this study come from the results of a parallel, detailed study conducted by Hendrajana (2001). Hendrajana similarly took a web-based methodology but focused on worldwide activities in the area of user interfaces for small computing devices. His results similarly suggest a heavy concentration of activity in the US and Japan, with Germany and the UK leading in Europe (though with a much smaller level of activity). His results are summarised in the table reproduced below:

GUI Handwriting Speech Pen Display Keyboard Touchpad Camera

Predictive text entry

Microphone

Total Projects

Australia 1 1 Austria 1 1

Belgium 1 1 Canada 1 1

China 1 1 1 3 Finland 1 1 2 France 1 1

Germany 2 2 4 India 1 1 Israel 2 1 3 1 1 1 9 Japan 4 4 7 2 1 1 19

S Korea 1 1 Netherlands 1 1

Russia 1 1 1 3 Slovakia 1 1 Sweden 2 2 1 5 Taiwan 1 1

UK 5 3 4 1 2 1 16 USA 22 8 22 5 18 11 3 1 4 2 96

Total Projects

41 14 43 9 28 15 5 2 6 4 167

Table 5: Web Survey of small computer devices user interfaces projects (Hendrajana, 2001)

Summary In conclusion, the UC field is liable to be extremely important, for economic growth, quality of life, industrial competitiveness, and the shaping of information society. Further observation and analysis are thus recommended. The present report is a first shot at assessing European capabilities in the field. Though a preliminary, exploratory effort, it is hoped that it contributes to in developing our capacity to reflect systematically on European capabilities in UC.

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Annex 2 Country by Country analysis

� Italy, Spain and Portugal

(based on inputs from Fondazione Rosselli) In the University sectors, DISI (Dipartimento di Informatica e Scienze dell’Informazione) at the Università di Genova includes a group working on the development of mobile computing applications for use in outdoor environments (intended for applications such as field archaeology). In the Università di Udine (Dipartimento di Matematica), the Politecnico di Milano (Dipartimento di Elettronica ed Informazione), the Scuola Superiore S. Anna and the Università degli Studi di Torino (Dipartimento di Informatica) work is being conducted on several of the technology areas identified as relevant to UC, for instance user interfaces, hypermedia communication systems, distributed and object oriented systems, natural language recognition and elaboration, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Finally, CEFRIEL is a university research centre, focused on Internet and UC technologies. CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) is performing work on sensors and microsystems, and materials & devices for optoelectronics. Within CNR, IROE (Istituto di Ricerca sulle Onde Elettromagnetiche) has developed the AVANTI project, with the objective to demonstrate that it is possible to develop generic multimedia telecommunications applications, which are adaptable and adaptive to the requirements of most potential users including disabled people, elderly people, occasional and ‘professional’ users. Moving onto Italian industry, ST Microelectronics is a global independent semiconductor company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of semiconductor integrated circuits ("ICs") and discrete devices used in a wide variety of microelectronic applications, including telecommunications systems, computer systems, consumer products, automotive products, industrial automation and control systems. ST produces a diverse range of semiconductors - from single transistors to microprocessors with millions of components on the same 'silicon chip' - which can be found in many disparate products or environments - from high performance supercomputers to everyday items such as telephones, cars, toasters, or even light bulbs. The Company currently offers more than 3,000 main types of products to a range of customers, including Alcatel, Bosch, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Philips, Seagate Technology, Siemens, Sony, Thomson Multimedia and Western Digital. ST recognised the importance of system-on-chip technology relatively early, and has retained a leading position in this key emerging field. Established in 1986, Aitek is an hi-tech firm that develops and uses innovative technologies to sell software based products and services to business clients. The firm's major business areas are Traffic Technology, Internet and Networking, Security Systems and Information & database system. STV interactive is a hi-tech firm developing innovative solutions for business clients. STV offers products and services based on mobile communication and web technologies, to design

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Intranet and Extranet and mobile devices enabling clients to be always connected to their firm information network.

Merloni Elettrodomestici is a domestic appliance group, incorporating the Ariston, Indesit and Scholtès brands. Many solutions have been developed in order to realize the smart home; for example “Margherita 2000” with network connectivity, “Margherita 2000.com” with remote control and House Remote Access, and Leon@rdo, an home portal, with the possibility of being a bridge between internet and the domestic appliance network.

Domustech is owned by Olivetti group. It aims to implement a new system for home automation which enables control and management of the house, via supporting different technologies. 4P – mobile data processing, a manufacturer of laptops, patented a prototype of a multipurpose handheld electronic computer in 1995.

Italtel is one of the Italian leading suppliers. It develops, both for new and traditional operators, integrated voice and data network solutions. With key competences in many areas - from in-depth research to advanced technology, from a wide range of professional and consultancy services to a role as expert System Integrator, Italtel plans its activities as a full "Global Network Solutions Provider", opening up new paths to promote its clients' growth. Pirelli Cavi e Sistemi has a forefront position in the development of optical fibres, optical cables and optical components, as well as in the introduction of new functions (sorting capacity, protection, etc.) in many different network structures. Pirelli brings the market a series of integrated components (products, systems, engineering and installations for global turn-key projects), particularly in telecommunications and power transmission. Techselesta Engineering9 was founded as a provider of access and time management systems. Nowadays the company is a system integrator and device manufacturer who has become today one of Switzerland's main leaders within the area of “intelligent building management systems”. Nazca ricerca is the research centre of GRUPPONAZCA. This company produces web applications for business Intranet and Extranet, web portal, GUI for database access, audio and video streaming. One small Italian firm of some interest is Ubiquity , a software house and an independent system integrator, specialised in designing and developing services and applications using “ubiquitous “ platforms – in other words mobile or PDA technology. The company claims to be exclusively dedicated to the research, development and realisation of functional and innovative solutions for non-PC mobile platforms. CSELT, referring to the Venture Capital & Innovation Telecom Italia's Business Unit, is the Telecom Italia Group Company for study, research, development and experimentation in telecommunications and information technologies, and qualification of related products and services. CSELT Centre operates in most fields of Information & Communications Technologies. Through its own research activities, CSELT contributes to innovation in new

9 Although Swiss, we include Techselesta among Italian companies for its partnership with Politecnico di Milano.

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telecommunications services, advanced applications and integrated solutions as well as developing advanced systems scenarios. The company is structured according to three main Research Divisions, which deal with fields related to the development of network infrastructures, services and applications as well as all issues associated with the mobile network. A few of CSELT's many areas of achievement are innovative services in the fields of Internet, multimedia, data networks, mobile networks, telephony; systems and networks evolution for fixed, mobile and satellite telecommunication networks, also tackling planning issues; interconnection and management services, leveraging on the infrastructure for services offering; qualification of equipment, systems and services, quality aspects and environmental impacts covering the entire life-cycle of telecom products. ENEL RICERCA is the research centre of ENEL, the Italian electric power supplier, for both home and business clients. In the last four years, ENEL has increased their business activities in the telecommunications sector, with the foundation of Wind (the Italian third TLC provider, both for mobile and fixed) and the acquisition of Infostrada, the Italian second fixed TLC provider. OLIVETTI RICERCA is the research centre of OLIVETTI, the Italian major TLC provider, with the control over Telecom, the major Italian fixed TLC provider and TIM , the major italian mobile TLC provider. Olivetti's main business activities also cover computer system and electronic consumer products.

TELECOM ITALIA, the ex incumbent seem to be enlarging their competences and activities; for instance in January 2001 they patented a satellite based high definition TV motion picture distribution network, allowing the transmission of big screen motion pictures directly to cinemas for recording and screening. Centro Ricerche Fiat is the research centre of FIAT, the Italian major and one of the world's leading automotive producers, with business activities also in TLC, the publishing trade and multimedia. Elasis – Sistema ricerca FIAT nel Mezzogiorno - is a research basis point for the firms in the FIAT group, it develops competences in the areas of architecture, infrastructures, communication protocols and applications for the realization of collaboration real time services and multimedia services.

Technogym is a firm operating in fitness and sport equipment, particularly oriented to research and development of new products. Interestingly, the firm has designed a telecommunication system for exchanging confidential information between a physical person and an information system, and a system for exchanging information concerning personalised parameters of physiological state between a physical person and an information system.

Spain Centura Software Spain is the Spanish branch of Centura Software Corporate, one of the world's leading software services and products supplier for business to business market. Centura's purpose is to provide their client with secure, fast, interoperable access to accurate, timely information with standards-based solutions that will grow with their business from the enterprise to the Web to mobile computing. Centura's solutions provide the critical infrastructure required for supporting interactive, electronic access to business applications and data via the Web and mobile, wireless devices -- regardless of network infrastructure or

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protocols. Informática El Corte Inglés S.A is one of the greatest Spanish enterprises in the sector. It provides business clients with software tools enabling the management and efficient use of information. These tools include: a scanning and information storage system with search keys, system for filing reports on optical disks, Work Flow management system, system for processing images in production environments, automatic recognition system for processing massive data entry, management and location of historical archive collections, solution for computerizing input and output records.

EVEREX COMUNICACIONES S.A. was born as the Spanish branch house of the international Everex System Inc., whose purpose is to provide any kind of software and communications products and services for business to business. In 1993 the firm became autonomous and in the last years has joined partnerships for the implementation of new services and products with a lot of the most important European and American ICTs companies, such as Novell, ATI, Nortel, Compaq, Cisco and Intel. The company's centres are located in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia. The main public Research Centres in Spain are those one linked to Universities. The most important are Universitat de Sevillia, Universitat de Girona (with the Economy Department), Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Universitat de Vigo and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. The last one is particularly involved in associated studies and researches about multimedia and digital fields and interactive communications.

Portugal In Portugal our web search didn’t discover any enterprises dealing with UC. Notwithstanding this, the Portuguese are certainly aware of the paradigm, with some web pages dedicated to UC, reporting events, publications and articles. People with interest in UC were found in some University departments of the country: At the Departamento de Informática, University of Lisbon a team is working on the design of new network applications and user interfaces in portable devices and on the design and implementation of the Ubidata Information Dissemination Framework. Nearby, in the Department of Informatics, New University of Lisbon, a project has been developed on Parallel and Distributed Computing Systems, which is exploring the methods and tools required to deal with ubiquitous computing and/or collaborative-interaction on a wide area, integrating a large number of stationary and mobile computers. Uninova (Istituto de Desenvolvimento de Novas Tecnologias), another research department of the New University of Lisbon, is conducting research in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) applied to spatial contextual awareness both in virtual environments and in the real world. The Department of Systems and Informatics Engineering at the University of Minho has a team with research interests in the fields of networking and distributed and mobile computing, focusing on the new types of applications and paradigms that can be exploited by embedded Internet and mobile computing technologies. Finally, INESC (Istituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores) is a research centre with interests in some of the technologies related to UC.

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� Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway

(based on inputs from VTT Electronics) The Scandinavian tradition has made a great impact on the development of co-operative and user centred design, based on the traditions of a close co-operation between developers and users. Nordic countries have also made a significant contribution in driving the design of mobile devices through Finnish firm Nokia and Swedish firm Ericsson. Many of the relevant research groups in Finland are concentrated in Tampere. Examples include: TAUCHI (Tampere University Computer Human Interaction Group) and the Tampere University of Technology / Institute of Electronics Personal Electronics group (who work on Smart rooms, Smart Clothing, User Interface Devices, Wearable computing design, Headmounted Displays, Audio-Systems positioning, etc). Outside Tampere, FUEGO, the Future Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing Research Programme at the Helsinki Institute of Information Technology, aims to develop both technologies and the supporting theories and methodologies needed to design and implement future mobile and ubiquitous computing products. TML , the Telecommunications Software and Media Laboratory at the Helsinki University of Technology, has been active in developing “trust-enhancing” technologies for mobile applications (through the TESSA, TESSA2 and TESSA3 projects. Also relevant is, not surprisingly, VTT Electronics, where expertise related to UC covers areas such as embedded software, networking research, electronics, systems, microelectronics and optoelectronics. Companies in Finland include, again not surprisingly, Nokia, a major European player in mobile communications. Other industry hits include Sonera, a telecommunications company which is involved in a number of relevant activities including Sonera Living Oy, a company founded to “develop and build tomorrow's media homes today”. In its own words, Sonera Living shifts the focus from 'the home' to 'living', focusing on what we actually need around us “in order to live a pleasant life in efficient surroundings, taking account of the different stages of life”. Also relevant are Solid Information Technology, who have pioneered the software technology that enables intelligence in smart networks. In Sweden, the Interactive-Institute - PLAY research studio “investigates and invents” the future of human-computer interaction. As computers become more and more a part of everyday life, the previous view of computers strictly a work-oriented tool will change. CCSlab (Computer Communication (Datorkommunikation) Systems Laboratory) at KTH, Kista is concerned with computer based communication in the broadest sense. The same institution’s Cslab (Computer Systems Laboratory) performs research on parallel and distributed computer systems. The Computer and Network Architectures Laboratory of the SICS (Swedish Institute of Computer Science) works on networks and protocols, simulation and performance evaluation, network & OS Support for audio & video, mobile computing and communication, scalable distributed applications, and security for distributed systems

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The Distributed Computing and Systems Research Group, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola, Gothenburg, is involved in research on Distributed Computing and Systems, with an emphasis on synchronization, communication/coordination, networking, efficiency, scalability and fault-tolerance issues. The Centre for Distance-spanning Technology at Luleå University of Technology aims to develop competences, products, and business opportunities at the intersection of computer and communications technology. The goal is to strengthen the competitiveness of companies and business in the region of northern Scandinavia. Chalmers Medialab, founded in 1998, has a mission to: -support ongoing research and education to strengthen competitiveness, initiate and support new research and education in the field of digital media, and actively develop the process of renewing teaching and learning methods. As far as company research is concerned, Ericsson, with Nokia of Finland one of the world's leading suppliers in (mobile) telecommunications, is conducting research on: Generic Technologies, Software Technology and applications, Networks & Systems, Access Networks, Access Technologies and Signal Processing, Audio & Visual Technology. In Denmark, the Centre for Human-Machine Interaction at the University of Aarhus was established in 1998 by the Danish National Research Foundation, Risø National Laboratory and the University of Aarhus. CHMI is organised as a cross-disciplinary research network between some twenty scientists and PhD students at seven Danish sites with an engagement in the fundamental aspects of human-machine interaction and their implications for design. The Center for PersonKommunikation at the University of Aalborg is a 40 person research centre established in a cooperation between the Danish Technical Research Council and Aalborg University. The scope of the research is related to modern communications between persons and computers, with an emphasis on wireless communications. The research profile comprises speech technology, data communications, and radio communications. The long-term goal of the Natural Interactive Systems Laboratory, University of Southern Denmark (NISLab) is based on a vision of “natural interactivity”, whereby users should be able to exchange information with computer systems in the same ways as humans exchange information with one another, using combinations of speech, gesture, text, graphics, facial expression, and so on.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Department of Engineering Cybernetics has research projects in various aspects of control systems. Of particular relevance to UC is the project to develop a “Body-attached Information & Communication System”, which is basically a wearable computing device. The Department of Telematics in the same institution is involved in a project on “Distributed Systems and Intelligent Networks”, which is supported by the company Telenor. The department also works on Mobile communications, and on Network Management, the latter being supported by Telenor, Ericsson, Siemens and Alcatel.

Telenor R&D is Norway's largest research establishment within IT (Information and Communication Technology). Their research has a long-term horizon and comprises future communication networks and services together with applications in various market areas.

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Projects include “the Home of the Future”, an exciting arena for new communications and content services (a proper residential house that will serve as a laboratory as well as a shop window for Telenor and our collaborators). Telenor are also involved in the MIT Media Lab “Things That Think” research consortium, which is conducting work in the areas of handheld and ubiquitous computing (and which brings together US, European and East Asian IT and user firms. European firms involved include Marks & Spencer and British Airways from the UK, Deutche Telecom from Germany, Saab of Sweden and Swedish paper company SCA, Nokia, kitchen appliance group Merloni of Italy, and Lego of Denmark).

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� Germany, Austria and (German-speaking) Switzerland

(Johann Cas, ITA) By far the vast majority of results were for Germany, and most of the groups or individuals identified are part of academic departments or other facilities linked to universities. These groups are very frequently located at the German Universities of Karlsruhe , Darmstadt, Aachen, Rostock, Bremen and Stuttgart and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), all of which seem to be important “competence centres” for Ubiquitous Computing. Only a small number of search results of the German, Austrian and Swiss web led to business enterprises, among which the academic influence still remained, with some start-ups arising from academic facilities appearing. As noted earlier one possible explanation for this phenomena is that enterprises with research activities in this field are more reluctant to publicise their work than their academic colleagues. Significant evidence of ‘networking’ between many of the individuals and groups identified was thrown up by the search methodology. Indeed it proved rather difficult to identify institutions not being part of this “network”, most notably in the case of Austria, where UC networks are yet to be established and where R&D activities in key enabling technologies for UC appear to be undertaken with little reference to UC as a concept. In Germany, Graphisch-Interaktive Systeme at the Wilhelm Schickard Institut für Informatik of the Universität Tuebingen deals with interactive multi-media graphical user interfaces and adaptive intelligent usage-support, but is primarily engaged in visualisation, animation and simulation. At Bielefeld, the “knowledge-based systems” workgroup performs research on knowledge-based interfaces and the integration of multiple input-modes (texture, speech, gestures). Special research interests are dynamic knowledge-representation and techniques of multi-agent systems for intelligent human-machine interaction. The Teleco-operation Office (TecO) at the Institut für Telematik at Universität Karlsruhe (TH) was founded in 1993 to perform R&D in applied telematics in close collaboration with industry. Multimedia, Mobility, and Telecooperation are the central themes of TecO’s work, with Web Engineering, Handheld Computing, and Internet Call Center Technology as current research focuses. (Currently TecO impressionistically appears to be the most active and important research group engaged in Ubiquitous Computing in Austria, Germany or Switzerland). TecO is one of three groups of the Institute of Telematics but distinguishes itself as being close to industry both with regard to its funding model and its participation in "real-world projects" with a range of partners in the software, telecommunications, and multimedia industries. Research includes: Context-awareness in mobile computing and distributed networks; Web Engineering; Ubiquitous Computing (building infrastructure and an application framework for ubiquitous computing, aiming to move this exciting field beyond one-off demonstrators); and Handheld CSCW (applying handhelds and wearables to collaborative work). TecO organised the International Symposium on Handheld and Ubiquitous Computing (HUC 99, September 27-29, 1999, Karlsruhe, Germany and is engaged in several other related conferences (e.g. organising a workshop on distributed and

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disappearing user interfaces in ubiquitous computing at CHI2001, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems will take place in Seattle, Washington, 31 March-5 April 2001, and the Dagstuhl-Seminar on Ubiquitous Computing (2001). Also at Karlsruhe, the System Architecture Group deals with the design, implementation and evaluation of well-structured and efficient software systems, reaching from tiny pervasive systems up to easily configurable, highly flexible systems. Research activities include microkernel construction, highly configurable systems, and high performance I/O. Very important in the German context is Forschungszentrum Informationstechnik GmbH or GMD (the National Research Center for Information Technology). GMD's research is conducted in more than 100 projects where research groups work on solutions to current information technology problems. In most projects, researchers of different disciplines closely collaborate with partners from industry, universities and other research institutions. GMD consists of several different research institutes; the most important related to UC is the Research Institute for Open Communication Systems (GMD FOKUS); others are the Integrated Publication and Information Systems Institute (GMD IPSI ), the Institute for Media Communication (GMD IMK ) and the Institute for Applied Information Technology (GMD FIT ). GMD FOKUS is organized into several “Competence Centres”. Relevant Competence Centres are:

• The Competence Center for Advanced Network Technologies and Systems (CC CATS), which is working on the provision of a seamless networking infrastructure for ubiquitous computing and communications environments. Relevant R&D covers Infranet technologies for home/office/building/car10 environments, the evaluation of access network technologies including satellite based ATM, the integration of Infra- and access networks into the Internet as well as the provision of environment aware systems for user centric networking. Research on body area networks connecting biometric sensors and other personal devices is an upcoming topic.

• Competence Center for Open Communication Systems (CC OKS), which investigates

technologies, platforms, and services for universal service access. The objective is the development of an intelligent communication environment based on state of the art in mobile computing and mobile/personal telecommunications. This environment aims to integrate environment-aware information services and enhanced customer service control in order to provide the “nomadic user” with information at any time at any place in any form. The CC OKS cooperates with the Institute for Open Communication Systems at the Technical University Berlin.

The research group for Open Communication Systems (OKS), Technical University Berlin represents an integral part of the Institute of Communication and Software Technology (IKS) at the Computer Science Department. The research projects of OKS are related to those of GMD FOKUS, and the research group acts as an associated “Competence Centre for Personal Communication & Location-aware Services”. Research activities are focused on two main areas: middleware platforms and applications for telecommunication services, services for

10 "Vehicular Video" is the first project with DaimlerChrysler AG and GMD FOKUS in a joint R&D effort towards the "Internet on the road"; part of the project is the development of Internet and real-time video enabled Smart cars.

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personal mobility and terminal mobility, management services, and multimedia services. Recent research topics relate to context awareness, open services and smart environments. Back within GMD, the Institute for Media Communication (GMD IMK ), aims to expand the scope of the new media through research, and by exploring their creative potential and social consequences. Key strategic themes are distributed real-time media, digital story telling, intuitive interface environments and corporate media networks for social interaction. The Integrated Publication and Information Systems Institute (GMD IPSI ) is the institute within GMD concerned with the creation, dissemination, and use of multimedia information in a networked environment. This institute has initiated several research programmes, such as AMBIENTE (which aims to create “Workspaces of the Future” by filling rooms with smart devices, or “roomware®”, with interfaces range from very small to very large screens, extending the scope to larger spaces from rooms over hallways to comprehensive architectural environments, so called “Co-operative Buildings”) and MOBILE (“Mobile Interactive Media”, combining several research topics concerned with the transmission and processing of highly-interactive media-data by means of mobile appliances). The Ambiente project includes i-LAND (“An Interactive Landscape for Creativity and Innovation”), which is an example application of the concept of Cooperative Buildings as part of a vision of the workspaces of the future. They are based on an integrated design of real spaces and virtual spaces allowing for dynamic configuration and flexible allocation of resources for project teams (e.g. on demand and ad hoc teams). i-LAND integrates several so-called “roomware” components into a combination of real, physical as well as virtual, digital work environments for creative teams. The “roomware” components include:

• an interactive electronic wall ( DynaWall® ), • an interactive table ( InteracTable® ) and • computer-enhanced chairs ( CommChair® )

In 1984 the Computer Graphics Center (ZGDV) was established as a European platform for significant application-oriented training, research, and development in the field of computer graphics. Jointly supported by the Technical University of Darmstadt (TUD), the Fraunhofer Society (FhG), and numerous companies and institutions, ZGDV promotes the use of computer graphics for training and research purposes, with special regard to applications of the technology. Departments of ZGDV engaged in topics related with UC are the following:

• Mobile Information Visualization (new, innovative methods for mobile data-handling, visualization, user-interface design for mobile devices, and agent-based communication, moving away from general purpose devices, towards intelligent assistance for the user, like wireless networks and mobile devices - ranging from cellular phone up to wearable computers). The aim of the department is the support of different markets for which the use of mobile and distributed information and communication systems is of importance by realizing advanced prototype applications. For this, concepts and basic tools are developed in the following areas:

Visual Computing (the main emphasis is on Image Processing and Computer Vision; Virtual Reality; Augmented Reality; and the Man-Machine Interface. Within the Fraunhofer society, the Institute for Information and Data Processing (IITB) conducts research on production control systems, telematics, production optimization, image processing, diagnosis systems, interactive systems, multimodal transport systems, supply and

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disposal systems, and cognitive systems. Especially significant is the design and evaluation of man-machine interfaces. Together with ZGDV (see above), IITB is working on the EMBASSI-project to create efficient, individual and ubiquitous usable user-interfaces for a wide range of appliances and systems by means of psychological and ergonomic basics and innovative interaction technologies (e.g. applied to household equipment, vehicles or public terminals). Another key project, OFFICE–PLUS, is developing a system designed to - with the strong support of multimedia technology and mobile agents - assist the user as a "Virtual Secretary". The project aims to merge Ubiquitous Computing with Virtual Reality, and for a paradigm shift in Human Computer Interaction, whereby future systems will give assistance to the user instead of being used like tools. The Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD) has as its primary activity the development of products (hardware and software) for computer graphics and their adaptation to specific applications. There are several research fields and departments within this institute, e.g. “Visualization and Virtual Reality” (including visualization systems for scientific and technical data; virtual reality; development of VR systems; haptic / pressure feedback devices; augmented reality), “Visualization and Interactive Technologies” (including multimedia user interfaces; intuitive interaction technologies; virtual reality; biosignals for communication; 3D reconstruction; context-sensitive searching in image databases) or “Cognitive Computing / Medical Imaging” (including integrated hardware and software system solutions: 2D and 3D graphics and multimedia systems; multimedia user interfaces; context-sensitive image searching). Arbeitsgruppe Informatik und Gesellschaft (Institut für Informatik, Humboldt-Universität Berlin) is concerned with general questions related to Ubiquitous Computing, e.g. forms of communication, information, of trading, and entertainment within the universal relation between computer science, information society and digital media. The Databases and Distributed Systems Group (DVS) of the Department of Computer Science, Darmstadt University of Technology is performing basic research dedicated to Ubiquitous Computing, e.g. Infrastructures for Ubiquitous and Distributed Systems, Jini, PDAs, Smartcards and Trusted Devices. The TRUSTED-SYSTEMS-project (Testbed for Reliable, Ubiquitous, Secure, Transactional, Event-driven and Distributed Systems) is an attempt to address many of the issues related to trusted distributed systems (e.g. Distribution, Ubiquity, Spontaneous Connection) in an integrated fashion. The long-term goal is to establish a Center for Trusted Computing in collaboration with industry and the Telecommunications sector. Another area of work deals with security services for middleware, specifically, implementations of the CORBA security service and an analysis of its properties. Other work covers “small footprint” databases for handheld devices and cards and infrastructures for ubiquitous and spontaneous networking. Through the Chair of Computer Architecture, Institute of Technische Informatik (Department of Computer Science) the University of Rostock is performing work on computer architecture, particularly in the interaction of new and problem oriented computer systems with the possibilities of decentralised data processing. An important focus is on the development of standardized hard- and software components for embedded systems. The chair of Computer Architecture held the program chair of the 1st PACT 2000 Workshop on Ubiquitous Computing at the International Conference on Parallel Architectures and Compilation Techniques (PACT 2000, October 19th, 2000 in Philadelphia) and held the local chair of the 1st Euro-Par 2000 International Workshop on Cluster Computing (concerned with

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cluster architectures, wireless Clusters and Ubiquitous Computing at the European Parallel Computing Conference (Aug 29 – Sept 1st 2000, Munich). Researchers within the Fakultät für Informatik , of the Technische Universität München are engaged in research concerning Parallel and Distributed Applications and Architectures (e.g. ESPRIT Project SEEDS: Simulation Environment for Distributed Traffic Control Systems). This institute is currently organising the APC 2001 Thema “Pervasive Ubiquitous Computing”, (conference on Pervasive Ubiquitous Computing, Munich University of Technology, October 10 –12, 2001). The Center for Computing Technologies (TZI), Department of Intelligent Systems, University of Bremen, is, amongst other things, concerned with the development of mobile and wearable computer systems. Together with several collaborating companies (e.g. Firma Xybernaut GmbH), prototypes are being developed. The department organised the “Bremer XyberDay”, a workshop relating to applicability and technologies of Wearable Computing (Bremen, Germany, 09.12.1999). The Department of Intelligent Systems has also initiated a network for Wearable Computing. The Distributed Systems Working Group (VS) of the Institute of Parallel and Distributed High-Performance Systems (IPVR), University of Stuttgart, focuses its research on multi-media, tele-cooperation, mobile agents and mobile computing. Among many other projects, one closely related to Ubiquitous Computing is the NEXUS project (focusing on mobile computing and location-awareness). Since November 1998 a collaboration with the Institute of Photogrammetry, funded by the Government of Baden-Württemberg, has been running. Nexus is also supported by Hewlett-Packard through an initial donation for the Mobile Computing Laboratory. The research group plan to make Nexus a long term research effort and have found partners to launch further projects. The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence GmbH (DFKI) is the leading German research institute in the field of innovative software technology. In the international scientific community, the DFKI is among the important "Centers of Excellence". DFKI conducts research in Intelligent Interfaces, Information Management, and Intelligent Cooperation Systems. The research and technology development is carried out in the research labs of the DFKI (e.g. intelligent user interfaces, multiagent systems). DFKI is involved in many large national and international projects, such as the development of personal information assistants (agents) which facilitate user access to the global information highways. The research group "Dezentrale Systeme und Netzdienste" at the Institute for Telematics of the University of Karlsruhe has a vision of "UMC2 – Universal Multimedia Communication & Computing". This means that the presentation, storage, transmission and the processing of information of any kind should be available in the maximum possible number of media formats (texture, graphics, audio, video) and should be ubiquitously accessible. The institute is concerned with multi-media communication-systems, widespread access to / supply with services, and new architectures for communication infrastructures. The Co-operative Computing and Communication Laboratory (C-LAB) was founded in 1985 under the auspices of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia. A joint research and development laboratory, C-Lab is operated by Siemens AG and the University of Paderborn. C-LAB's vision is based on the fundamental premise that the gargantuan

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challenges thrown up by the transition to a future information society can only be met through co-operation, both geographically and between academia and industry. Under one roof, staff from the university and from industry cooperate closely on joint projects together with international partners. "Cooperative computing & communication" is C-LAB's general field of operation, covering computer applications and computer technologies and computer-assisted communication. The ARVIKA Project aims to research into and to realise Augmented-Reality-Technologies (AR) which will support development, production and servicing with relation to complex technical products in a user-oriented and application-driven manner. The ARVIKA-Consortium consists of users in the aeroplane and automobile industry Ford, Audi, Daimler-Chrysler, Volkswagen), outstanding representatives from the tool makers and production-machines industry, and has the scientific support of research and development partners (such as ZGDV and Fraunhofer IGD), from the SMEs and integrators focussing on a variety of fields, and with the support of Siemens in the role of user integrator and of consortium manager. The Telecooperation Department, Technical University Darmstadt deals with distributed systems and Ubiquitous Computing, mobility and context-awareness. The research domain is software engineering for advanced software. Advanced topics, in this context, comprise multimedia and multimodal interfaces, mobile and ubiquitous computing, human-human and human-computer cooperation. Computer Graphics & Human – Computer Interaction unit, Department of Computer Sciences, University of Oldenburg works on computer graphics and human-computer interaction (HCI), e.g. intelligent graphical user interfaces using stereo-phonetic techniques for blind people or people with visual handicaps. Communication and Distributed Systems Unit, Department of Computer Science, Aachen University of Technology, deals with the following fields and applications: Distributed Systems; Agents (Mobile Agent System, Agents in Telecommunication and Management); Multimedia Communication; Wireless Multimedia Systems (Mobile Networks, Telematics, Wireless LANs and Cordless Environments); Wireless Communication (Security Management in Mobile Networks, Traffic Models for GSM, Mobile Internetting, Mobile Middleware, Wireless ATM); Telematics; Telecommunications; Intelligent Networks (Rapid Prototyping and Deployment, Virtual Home Environment, Personalized Services, Convergence to IP-based Networks); and Mobile Agents and Intelligent Agents (Agents in Mobile Telecommunication Networks). One project, ACE (Agents in Cellular Environments), with Ericsson Eurolab Deutschland (EED), had the goal to integrate agent technology into a cellular environment and open access to agent based services. The Communication Networks group, Department of Computer Science. Also at Aachen University of Technology, work on Mobile Agent Technology and high-quality wireless IP in a heterogeneous multi-radio environment to deliver in-vehicle multimedia-services. In the commercial sector, Xybernaut GmbH has, since 1990, pioneered the research, development and commercialization of computer technology, hardware, and related software for wearable systems. The Xybernaut product line features wearability, voice activation and full Wintel compatibility. Content is delivered before the wearer's eyes, where and when it's

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needed, without interfering with the full range of vision. The Xybernaut Mobile Assistant® Series increases productivity, performance, and safety by providing critical data while the worker performs hands-on activities. Full-power PCs, the units also serve as desktop computers, comparable with high speed state-of-the-art desktop and notebook systems that have bulky CPUs, monitors and keyboards. Call-In GmbH is a service company, offering innovative Software and Hardware Solutions. The main effort lies in the development and distribution of "Mobile PC's". They are actively engaged and are co-operating internationally with leading design and marketing companies as well as partners who are leaders in the development of "man-machine" applications, as well as the interactive speech activation of "Mobile PC's". IKV++ GmbH (Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie) provides consulting and development in the areas of Internet, Telecommunication, distributed communication systems and mobile computing. The company specialises in Agent Technology, Unified Messaging Services, and Virtual Home Environment. humanIT® Human Information Technologies GmbH is a spin off of GMD, the German National Research Center for Information Technology. The company is a supplier of innovative human computer technologies that make digital marketplaces more effective, efficient, and creative. The flagship product of humanIT is the data visualisation software InfoZoom®. Finally, EYELED GmbH, founded in 2000 in Saarbrücken, is developing indoor navigation and information systems based on small mobile PDAs for a wide variety of applications dealing with ubiquitous information spaces. In Austria, the Telecooperation Department of the Systems Programming Institute, University of Linz, reflects the ongoing fusion of three huge technology domains: informatics (computer science), telecommunication, and multimedia / consumer electronics. Their key interest is software technology for telecooperation and teleteaching applications. A major factor in their definition of telecooperation is multi-mobility (mobile computing & mobile objects). Since mid 1995 the Telecooperation Department has worked on the design and development of the "Knowledge Net" (including “The class/conference room of the future” and gesture-based input) and other research projects including multimodal user interfaces; formal development of groupware coordination protocols, visualization of networked systems. The Interactive Systems Group, Systems Integration Group, Department of Informatics-Systems, University of Klagenfurt concentrates on research and project work referring to Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI) and Virtual Interface (VI) Architecture, distributed multimedia systems (eg adaptive networks) and cluster computing, embedded systems (e.g. project: technology and applications of tiny embedded web servers), web-based information systems and smart cards. The Visualisation and Animation Group (Algorithms and Data Structure Group, Institute of Computer Graphics and Algorithms), Vienna University of Technology, performs research work on virtual reality Interfaces, head-directed navigation; different input devices and navigation styles for collaborative augmented reality applications, such as the Personal Interaction Panel (PIP), which is a new interaction paradigm that uses a simple two-handed hardware set-up to enable natural and easy-to-learn control over 3D applications. The PIP can be used to control virtually any type of augmented reality application.

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The general focus of the Institute of Software Technology (IFS), Vienna University of Technology, is on: Software and data engineering; Software project management; User Interfaces; Architecture of information systems and Integration of information systems in specific domains. The Interactive and Multimedia Systems Group of the Institute forms the Virtual Environment Group (together with the Visualisation and Animation Group and the Algorithms and Data Structure Group at the Institute of Computer Graphics and Algorithms, Vienna University of Technology, see above, and some others, e.g. Graz University of Technology, Austria; Fraunhofer Institut für Graphische Datenverarbeitung, Darmstadt und Rostock, Germany, also see above), which is engaged in several research projects on virtual environments. The research projects focus on virtual reality, augmented reality, real-time rendering, user interfaces, multi-user systems, and distributed virtual environments. The Distributed Systems Group of the Information Systems Institute, also at the Technical University of Vienna conducts teaching and research in distributed computing with particular emphasis on software architectures, software components, and programming languages and paradigms for distributed systemsm including information access services based on mobile code systems (mobile agents). The Software Competence Center Hagenberg (SCCH), with support from the Austrian Federal Government and the Upper Austrian Government, performs research on: Database Technology (mainly focused on data-intensive Web applications, business intelligence and applications for mobile devices, and especially concentrates on new departures in database technology such as mobile agent technology or novel data modelling techniques for multi-dimensional or semi-structured data); and Knowledge-Based Technology (KBT, devoted to knowledge-based concepts, tools, and methods, and their applications in areas such as process automation, signal and image processing, intelligent user interfaces, etc. The competence of this area includes a broad spectrum of methods and tools like fuzzy systems, neural networks, genetic algorithms) The centre is linked to the Department for Advanced Computer (ACE) at the University of Vienna, which is mainly concerned with Parallel and Distributed Processing and Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI). CURE (Center for Usability Research & Engineering) performs usability research and engineering in a variety of application domains: Multimedia and Advanced Media Systems; Web Based Systems and Services; Mobile Multimedia Devices; Learning Environments; Information Systems; Virtual Reality; 3D Environments; Information Visualization; Home Computing; Graphical User Interfaces; Control- and Surveillance Systems; and Visualization Systems. CURE is also engaged in user interface design and prototyping research. At the University of Linz, relevant organisations are the Department of Information Systems (IFS) and the Institute for Applied Knowledge Processing (FAW). IFS are, among other topics, engaged in research concerning Distributed Information Systems (design guidelines for distributed information systems, extending object-oriented models (OBD, UML) with interfaces and components, distributed persistence for Java applications, and WWW database connectivity). The FAW, an academic partner of SCCH, consists of three departments (Data Base and Expert Systems, Information Systems and Informatics in Public Administration) and works in the fields of Relational, Object-Oriented and Federated Database Systems, Distributed and Active Database Systems, Databased Information Systems, Semantic Networks, Topic Maps or Data Mining, Data Warehousing).

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JOANNEUM Research is Austria's largest provincially owned research institution and offers its services to business, industry and public administration in the field of applied research and development. Relevant to Ubiquitous Computing questions are the Institute of Information Systems & Information Management (IIS) and the Institute of HyperMedia Systems (HMS). The Institute for Information Processing and Computer Supported New Media (IICM) at Graz University of Technology, has had long experience in design, implementation and operation of large online hypertext services for fairly large user communities. Among other major undertakings it has developed a large networked hypermedia system Hyperwave (Hyper-G), which is marketed successfully around the world. Since 1990 the Hyper-G project has been carried out by IICM in cooperation with the Institute for Hypermedia Systems (HMS) of JOANNEUM Research. At IICM, a fully functional prototype of a teaching system is being developed under an R&D project "Virtual Classrooms". This prototype will unite the formerly isolated approaches of digital libraries, Computer Based Training (CBT), Authoring systems, Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) and Electronic distance teaching. The Department of Medical Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence (IMKAI) , University of Vienna, performs research in close cooperation with the Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (ÖFAI, see below) in various areas of Artificial Intelligence (e.g. knowledge-based systems for medical and surgery applications). The Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intellig ence (ÖFAI) was founded in 1984 with support from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research, and conducts basic and applied research is performed in several areas of AI, most notably: Natural Language Processing; Neural Networks (Connectionism); Machine Learning and Data Mining; Knowledge-Based Systems; Constraint Logic Programming; Intelligent Software Agents and New Media (e.g. Emotional Software Agents - Principled emotion synthesis in situated software agents) The Information Technologies & Telematics and Electronics Divisions of the Austrian Research Centers Seibersdorf is part of Austria’s largest center for applied research. The Electronics Division develops scientific solutions in three core areas of activity: Computer Vision; Security and Video Technologies; Three-dimensional object presentation and virtual reality; Multimedia Data Communication; Development of speech communications systems; Transfer of multimedia files over data networks, telecommunications networks and the internet; Environmental telematics; and various aspects of Mobile communications. The Information Technologies and Telematics Division is concerned with: Image Processing and Pattern Recognition; Telematics and System Security; Telematics and Telecommunications. In the commercial sector, r>IT Resource Information Technology is providing business workflow solutions based upon distributed applications and pervasive "integration office" systems (including palmtops, PDAs and mobile network applications integration in business workflow). BSE Elektro Technik GmbH is working on IMAGINE, a building infrastructure system that integrates several appliances (security, control, administration, agents). It is a modular and scaleable system with open architecture for "smart” buildings. In Switzerland, the Perceptual Computing and Computer Vision Group, in the Institute of Scientific Computing of the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) aims to develop methods robust enough for every-day tasks

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under real-world conditions, integrating computer vision with many different sensor modalities such as audio, GPS, time of day, etc. Application areas include: wearable computing; human-computer interfaces; indexing multi-sensory databases; and robotics. Also at ETH Zurich, the Wearable Computing Laboratory (part of the Electronics Laboratory of the Electrical Engineering Department) has as its mission to: concentrate the ongoing ETH activities in the area of wearable and mobile computing; demonstrate the status of wearable computing and its components; allow experiments with several wearable platforms; and provide an environment for further projects and commercial spin-offs. Again at ETH Zurich, the Distributed Systems Research Group of the Department of Computer Science plans to establish a “Ubiquitous Computing Laboratory”. Current research topics deal with: Distributed Systems; Ubiquitous Computing; and “Ubiquitous Information”. The research interests encompass models and concepts for distributed computations, Internet applications, programming of parallel and distributed systems, and infrastructures for dynamic networking of small and mobile devices, Agent Systems, Mobile Agents, and Applications. IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory is the European branch of IBM Research related to UC. Its activities are an integral part of IBM Research's overall strategy, and are conducted in three scientific departments: Communication Systems (High-speed network and network access technologies, mobile and wireless networking, networking software); Computer Science (network management, network security and cryptography, networking software/IP telephony, pervasive computing solutions, secure systems, smart cards/JavaCard technology, as well as telecommunications and e-business enablers); and Science and Technology (Display and optical network technologies, microcontact processing, materials science and nanoscale technology). One current IBM Zurich research project is DEAPspace. The aim of DEAPspace — DEAP stands for distributed embedded application platform — is to connect nomadic and pervasive devices in (transient) ad hoc networks to allow available resources to be utilized and coordinated for more useful applications than any single component devices would be capable of supporting. DEAPspace addresses peer-to-peer networking of pervasive devices instead of client-server networking.

� Netherlands

(based on inputs from R Audenaerde, CM International) Active in research on human-machine interfaces is the Human Factors department of TNO (Dutch Foundation for Technical and Physical Research -departement Technische menskunde). The TNO-HF specializes in the knowledge of human factors and its application in the design of human work and adequate technical aids. It aims at optimizing performance, safety, comfort, and job satisfaction. The 150 TNO-HF staff are distributed over six research departments:

• Perception (vision & imaging displays, hearing & speech) • Information Processing (cognition, information transfer, usability engineering) • Skilled Behaviour (steering & control, flight and traffic behaviour) • Work environment (incl. workplace ergonomics, equilibrium & orientation)

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• Training & Instruction (includes embedded training) • Group Work (including distributed decision-making, i.e. optimal distribution of tasks

between human and machine, using an integral approach) In the University sector, the Programming Research Group (of the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy) at the University of Amsterdam contains some individual researchers working on the restructuring of transaction processing systems. In the Faculteit Industrieel Ontwerpen (Faculty of Industrial Design) at the Technical University of Delft, the Sectie Informationele Ergonomie (the Information & Communication Section of the Department of Design Ergonomics) is conducting research on the integration of informatics and ergonomics as part of a more general program of work in industrial design. In the Faculteit Informatietechnologie en Systemen (Faculty of IT & Systems), also at TU Delft, software engineering staff in the Technische Informatica (Technical Informatics) workgroup are developing software architectures for embedded systems, especially with respect to (online) system evolution. The aim is of this work is to evolve a software architecture for a system of wireless communicating processes, with the possibility to apply changes to the running system at the architectural level. Once more at Delft, the Department of Information, Communication and Systems, Systems Engineering Group, research on virtual reality applications aims to “go one step beyond ubiquitous computing”. “Technology should be embedded and/or distributed in the environment in an invisible as well as transparent way. Within this VR environment there would be lots of computationally driven gadgets or so called smart appliances throughout, each one could be part of a larger system of co-ordinated devices, receiving and transmitting signals from the abroad or from intrinsic system pathways… Our goal in simulation synergy in laboratories and outer space problems should be to unite the power and flexibility of virtual reality methodology with the insight of ubiquitous computing”. The Faculteit Informatica Sectie Taal- en Spraakkunde at the University of Twente conducts research “at the cross-roads of IT and speech & language technology”. Also at Twente, the CTIT (Centre for Telematics and Information Technology) has two programmes, namely IT systems and IT applications. The former programme comprises three focal areas, emphasising the connections between them which must be made for real-world applications: Network and Computing Platforms; Middleware; and Application Systems. The applications part of the CTIT program consists of six focal areas: Learning & Training (in this area, CTIT has already got a long track record); Supply Chain Logistics; Electronic Commerce / Electronic Governance (a strongly emerging field, with research efforts covering the total field of Electronic Process Interaction and Communication in Business and Society, with considerable emphasis on the interdependency of systems); Traffic and Transport Systems; Financial Engineering (applications in share and option trading, as well as risk management in financial markets and insurance); Virtual Reality (training simulators for experts, especially for medical purposes, and for design of environments for representing and testing new product designs). Specific Twente projects include Moby Dick , which aims to develop and define the architecture of a new generation of mobile handheld computers, focusing on energy efficiency, quality of service, and handling of diverse data types. The project is supported by ESPRIT, and the other participants are the Nowegian University of Tromso, and the University of Pisa in Italy. Closely related to Moby Dick is the Chameleon project, in which the opportunities of reconfiguration of mobile multimedia systems are being explored. Another project, UbiCom, is a multidisciplinary (four faculty) research program, which is carrying out research to support the production of wearable systems for mobile multimedia

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communications, whereby a user carries a wearable terminal and a lightweight sensor display by which the user can see virtual information that augments reality. The wearable system contains a radio link that connects the sensor to the computing resources and the Internet. A camera captures the user’s environment which is sent to the backbone and matched to a 3-D description of the real world to detect and to answer questions of the user that relate to the environment. In technology terms, the main focus is on: High speed communication and processing of visual information for context-aware applications of virtual reality; Architectural issues and producing heterogeneous communication and computation systems. The programme’s scope is underpinned by three common objectives: Low power; a system approach; and negotiated quality of service. UbiCom is organized into three projects: Low-power adaptive wireless communication transceivers; Audio-visual information processing and application; System architecture and protocols. IPO Center for User-System Interaction at Eindhoven University is conducting four inter-linked R&D programs intended to deliver scientific results and industrial applications in user Centered design; multimodal interaction (speech recognition and synthesis, functional sound, tactile input and output techniques, graphic animations and 3D visualisations are integrated to achieve more natural and intuitive user-system interaction), spoken language interfaces (investigating of the applicability of speech input and output in user-system interaction; information access and presentation (research on the way users deal with information - user aspects are modelled, existing user-interface concepts are applied and new ones developed, and their contributions to the usability of the product are evaluated). In terms of industrial research, very important is “NatLab” - the main research laboratory of Royal Philips Electronics. Closely linked to the Technical University of Eindhoven, it has a staff of 1700 members, dispersed over 23 departments. Some of these are leaders in key UC enabling technologies such as microsystems, optics, imaging devices, integrated transceivers, user-system interaction technology and new media systems. As many of its research projects are of strategic importance to the firm, the Philips web site reveals only marginal information about the company’s UC-related research activities, such as multimodal user interfaces, wearable computing, and ambient intelligence in communication technology. Clearly however Philips is a major European industrial player UC research. Another Dutch firm which has been identified as relevant is Océ van der Grinten, a printer and copier manufacturer. This company is currently undertaking research intended at improving the interfaces between humans and printers, copying machines, etc.

� France, Belgium, and French-speaking Switzerland

(based on inputs from OST and CM International) For France, not surprisingly important is CNRS, (National Centre for Scientific Research) which is associated with a number of research laboratories such as the LIFL (Laboratoire d’Informatique Fondamentale de Lille) at the University of Lille, and the LRI (Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique), at the University of Paris-Sud. Also important is INRIA (National Institute for Computer and Automation Research), where there are research projects in a range of UC-relevant key technology areas such as interactive systems and graphics (e.g. research groups at INRIA , Grenoble). In the area of alternative user interfaces, researchers from the Universite de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard, and the LRI at the University of Paris-Sud, are active. Active in the area of context modelling and awareness is Patrick Brezillon, LIP6 , at the University of Paris VI, who chaired the 1999 CONTEXT conference

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in Italy11. Also identified as relevant is Eurécom, an academic and research engineering institute specialized in communications and networking, with emphasis on corporate, mobile and multimedia communications. French companies include Alcatel (where research is investigating the use of state-of-the-art middleware components in its telecommunication products); Cegetel; and France Telecom. Matra Marconi Space researchers are also active in middleware, cropping up in conference searches. French company Gemplus (a provider of smart card based solutions for security, wireless and e-business applications) are active in the OpenCard consortium. This European consortium is based on the perception that, for these network-centric applications--where resources are located throughout the Internet and access to them is ubiquitous-- authenticated access and secured transactions are indispensable prerequisites. Key factors for implementing smart card enabled applications and smart card based services are standardized application platforms and standardized, easy to use frameworks to communicate with smart cards of any ‘flavour’ using card readers of any make. Thomson Multimedia and Alcatel have created a joint venture company, ATLINKS , which is developing home digital networks and actively building “the digital home of tomorrow”, by building on its expertise and leadership in residential telephony and Internet videophones.). A more interesting French firm is UBICCO - the Ubiquitous Computing Company. UBICCO is the dedicated Mobile Internet subsidiary of the Fi SYSTEM Group (founded in 1999). UBICCO’s main objective is to assist any kind of organisation to distribute Web content to non-PC terminals (WAP telephones, PDAs, embedded computing in vehicles and public places, interactive TV set-top boxes etc.). Dess is a Belgian research consortium that deals with a software development methodology for real-time and embedded systems. The target is to define a methodology that will improve the development strategy of embedded software. This does not include the development of full-fledged tools, nor does it turn the validation test cases into directly exploitable products. The Distrinet research group at the Catholic University of Louvain is one of seven research institutes participating in the project, which is also supported by three SMEs and eight large companies, including the Belgian firm Barco. SEESCOA is a consortium funded by the Flemish government, which thus seeks to maintain the position of Flanders as a leading IT player. Backed up by six multinationals (including the Belgian firms Agfa-Gevaert and Barco, and also including Alcatel, Imec, Philips, and Siemens Atea), it comprises several departments attached to Flemish universities: the already-mentioned Distrinet , Department of Computer Science, Catholic University of Louvain; Department of Computer Science, Free University of Brussels; the group EDM (Expertisecentrum Digitale Media) at Limburg University Center ; and the group PARIS, at Ghent University. Also identified from web and conference searches are the Facultes Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix, the University of Namur and the University of Liege.

11 The 2001 conference was held in Dundee, Scotland.

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Three Belgian companies have been identified as active: Agfa-Gevaert, Barco, who are involved in the consortia already mentioned, and Lernout & Hauspie. The latter, Lernout & Hauspie, is the centre of the so called Flanders Language Valley, a leading conglomerate in the UC key enabling technology of linguistic and vocal devices. L&H applies translation software and speech to text technologies to such diverse environments as health & care, household management, driving, education, office work and public administration. Outside the EU, In Switzerland, searches have identified a number of research groups active in a university setting, including: Computer Science at the University of Geneva (user interfaces), and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (middleware).

� United Kingdom

(Debbie Cox, PREST) As well as identifying individual research groups in universities and firms, we have also identified a number of key cooperative working relationships. As the illustration indicates a key cluster of activity is, not surprisingly identifiable in the South (mainly South-East) of England, with Other groups active in Lancaster and in Glasgow. Work in Glasgow University focuses on multi-modal human interaction, which is concerned with using different senses to interact with computers and mobile telephones. Interesting work is exploring both audio and haptics which are being used in interfaces for blind people to allow them to get access to complex visual data that is currently unavailable to them, for example, via visualisations.

At Lancaster University relevant research is being undertaken by the Distributed Multimedia research group, including a project called FLUMP . The Flexible Ubiquitous Monitor Project. The aim of the FLUMP project is to provide a “heterogeneous, ubiquitous, multimedia information system” in the research group's department, enabling useful information to follow people around the building. For example this could include a reminder of their next appointment or the current state of their mailbox, the selection of information being totally user -customisable. One of the aims of the FLUMP implementation is to remain passive at all time, requiring little or no user intervention. The visions behind this are those of virtual reality and ubiquitous computing. Other Lancaster research of interest is ABTA - The Active Badge Tourist Application, a small demonstrator for the concept of location-aware, intelligent applications which may be seen in the future. In this instance, the application is loosely based on an intelligent tourist guide. Lancaster are also involved in the Equator project, an EPSRC funded collaboration between 8 universities including UCL , Southampton, Bristol , Glasgow, Nottingham, Sussex and the Royal College of Art. The project aims are to explore the integration of the physical with the digital. In particular, the project is concerned with uncovering and supporting the variety of possible relationships between physical and digital worlds. The research project investigates how the merging of physical and digital worlds can enhance work and home life, can allow them to be layered in new ways and can help manage the transitions between them. It will also explore situations in which new technologies have to continuously adapt to new situations and

43

contexts as people move about, with a particular focus on working environments other than the traditional office. Research in the Bristol area is being conducted by Hewlett Packard European Research Laboratories, Bristol University and Appliance Studio Ltd. This collaboration focuses on wearables or 'e-wear', more specifically the “Bristol Cyberjacket”. HP Labs are also actively involved in a project called CoolTown, where the Web is integrated with the real world. This, has entailed the establishment of a WAP-enabled art gallery, office, cafe and bookshop. HP Labs is an integral part of HP USA; the research is being carried out in both countries. The Appliance Studio initiative is a spin off from HP. The intent is to extend the innovation model beyond HP Labs and other partners (RCS/CRD (Royal College of Art research and IDEO , a product design and innovation consultancy) with other leading innovative companies in developing opportunities in connected media appliances and environments. One of the focuses is on e-wear, ultra portable technology and ubiquitous communications.

The Centre for Human Interaction Research Group at the Open University in Milton Keynes have recently become interested in emerging issues in mobile and ubiquitous computing and augmented reality. The interests of the group are concerned with the development and study of innovative computational media related to human perception, cognition and interpersonal communication. They look for human computer synergy in performing complex tasks to empower, enable and transform human perception, communication and cognition. Recent work has included adaptive interfaces, cognitive modelling, colour design, constraint-based reasoning, and assessment of usability.

In the area of display technologies, UK researchers have often played a leading role. A number of UK firms are involved in the development of new flat, polymer-based displays – an area in which DERA, the UK defence research agency (about to be privatised) is heavily involved. Of the UK firms involved in this research, the most prominent is CDT (Cambridge Display Technologies). CDT is leading research and commercial development of Light Emitting Polymers (LEPs). These flat light-emitting devices may significantly change a wide range of consumer electronic products in areas such as mobile communications, computers, consumer electronics. Ultimately they may find a role as an alternative to the cathode ray tube and subsequently become the basis for new products such as virtual reality headsets and flexible or formable displays. Based in Cambridge, UK, CDT was founded by Cambridge University and a seed venture capitalist in 1992. Ultimate ownership of CDT now lies in the US. CDT was founded after initial work at the Cavendish Laboratory showed that Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) could be made from polymers as well as from traditional semiconductors. (Less relevantly, the potential of polymer-based light emitting diodes is also underpinned by research being conducted by a number of highly knowledge-intensive speciality chemicals businesses, including the large company Avecia, formerly part of Zeneca, and the smaller, more specialised, Epichem. Important work relevant to our study in ubiquitous computing is carried out at the BT Advanced Communications research laboratories at Martelsham Health, Ipswich. Research here includes work on Agent technologies and future technologies. The Agent Research Programme is currently investigating and developing several different aspects of agent technology, namely: collaborative Agents, Personal Agents and Information Agents. The Agent Research work is concerned with the development and analysis of sophisticated AI problem-solving and control architectures for both single-agent and multiple-agent systems.

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Current research themes include multi-agent coordination and negotiation protocols, cooperative and non-cooperative multi-agent systems, organizational self-design, multi-agent adaptation of coordination strategies, computational economics as well as multi-agent building platform. Research activity at the University of Kent at Canterbury focuses on context aware mobile computer applications e.g. a tourist application for activity where information automatically pops up on the Tourist's PDA screen as he/she moves around the city. Context-aware documents are an important interest of the electronic dissemination group at UKC. Currently they have two externally-funded grants and focus is on the authorship of applications for hand-held devices. UKC was recently the site of the first Mobile Computing in the Field conference. Further university work of interest is at Imperial College in London, and focuses on active networks. A key research group in the UK is that at the former Olivetti Research Laboratory in Cambridge, UK - now AT&T Laboratories Cambridge . The laboratory pioneered the ‘active badge’ concept, and now they are working on "sentient computing," which replaces the infrared-emitting active badges with ultrasound transmitters, known, for obvious reasons, as "bats." These are battery-powered, key-chain-sized ultrasonic transmitters, and can be worn on a belt or placed inside objects. They broadcast an identifying 48-bit pulse to a network of receivers embedded every 1.5 meters in ceilings: about 800 are placed around AT&T's three-story lab in Cambridge. Since ultrasound provides far more precise positioning data than does infrared, bats make it possible to construct a computer model that follows people, objects and their relation to each other very accurately. Using this location information, a computer creates zones of "usage" and "availability" around both objects and people. If a person's zone overlaps an device's zone, the person becomes the temporary owner of the device, whatever it may be, with no need to log in, and with automatic storage of any work created using the device in the individual’s personal server space. AT&T Laboratories at Cambridge have strong links with the Engineering Department of the University of Cambridge, where current joint work is focused on developing middleware platforms, deployment frameworks and testbed distributed and mobile applications. In summary, the web-based surveys have identified a number of key areas of UK research strengths in the development of applications that can be described as belonging to the field of ubiquitous computing. (Other work is known to be underway in the UK, for example at Surrey University, with more of a social science orientation, aiming to inform the UC community about such topics as the patterns of usage of mobile communications in public spaces.) These strengths, summarised below, are clearly built upon the broader strengths of academic and industrial IT research in the UK. Summary: UK Key Enabling Technologies Strengths identified by Web survey:

• Multi-modal human interaction (with computers and mobile telephones) • Augmented Reality • Agent Technology (sophisticated AI problem-solving and control architectures for

both single-agent and multiple agent systems, involving multi-agent coordination and negotiation protocols, cooperative and non cooperative multi-agent systems, organisational self-design, multi-agent adaptation of coordination strategies)

• Context aware mobile computer applications • Sentient computing • Middleware platforms, deployment frameworks and test bed distributed mobile

applications

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Table 6a: Technology Activity Mapping for UC KETS based on results of web survey

46

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47

Table 6b: Technology Activity Mapping for UC KETS based on results of web survey

48

United Kingdom Austria Italy

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Table 6c: Technology Activity Mapping for UC KETS based on results of web survey