Spread of Excellence (SoE-1)

Motivation

S-Cube is committed to spreading the excellence created by the network’s beneficiaries through dissemination activities within the scientific community and other communities. It considers dissemination of research results and of knowledge as an essential factor to the sustainability of European excellence in Next Generation Services research and in forming a vibrant new community: Software Services and Systems.

Long term integration of research requires enhancing synergies, pooling expertise in favour of clear strategic options that are the expressing of the needs and objectives of research identified in S-Cube not only in conjunction with S-Cube beneficiaries but also external communities. Therefore, long-term integration and sustainability of the network necessitate that solid collaborations with targeted communities, i.e., scientific, industry, policy makers, and end-users, be established. These communities will act as valuable collaborators in S-Cube research, providing case studies and standard practises, interesting research materials and, in general, contribute to shaping future innovations and advancing the field.

Spreading S-Cube excellence will

• encourage the wider academic and industry community for potential participation and  collaborating in the conduct of  S-Cube research activities.

This will lead to enhanced cooperation between all members of the services and related disciplines and the industry community in Europe and will result in:

• a single reference centre for the untrammelled circulation of knowledge, with scientists working in a scientifically advanced international environment, exchanging their research findings and experience.

Objectives

S-Cube will ensure a broad dissemination of research results, stimulate industrial and commercial interest, and enhance the public visibility of the research conducted within the network. Means of dissemination will include:

• Virtual Campus Activities (WP-SoE-1.1) includinga an European PhD programme and a series of specialised lectures and training programmes, summer schools as well as
• Community Outreach Activities (WP-SoE-1.2) including setting up the web portal, electronic repositories of articles, and newsletters, organisation of international conferences and specialised workshops and an awareness programme that targets both European industry and academia in order to ensure exploitation of research results at a global scale.

S-Cube plans to introduce regular meetings with potentially interested companies to stimulate industry interest and help to illustrate its application to problems of interest to potential exploiters. Demonstration activities (achieved via the Pan-European Distributed Service Laboratory) will help identify possibilities for commercial/operational exploitation.

In addition S-Cube plans to develop an effective framework for training of researchers (especially young and upcoming researchers) where topics and researchers can be selected on a competitive basis and through open procedures. Joint interdisciplinary University curricula at the European level and a PhD programme will be introduced to train future generations of researchers and prepare them for a successful career in the emerging discipline of Software Services and Systems. The organisation of summer schools – with making the teaching material available on-line – would also be a helpful instrument in promoting the integration of the different disciplines involved.

Coordination

 This activity (SoE-1) is coordinated by Tilburg University.