Harnessing User Contexts to Enable Flowable Services Model

Services are expected to be a promising way for people to use information and computing resources in the emerging ubiquitous network society. In this study, we propose a metaphoric concept called flowable service. It is defined as a logical stream that organizes and provides circumjacent services in such a way that they are perceived by individuals as those naturally embedded in their surrounding environments. We present our view on how some of these problems, such as flexibility, portability and interoperability of services, can be solved using the flowable services to make seamless integration of diverse services in an intuitive "flowable" way possible, thus achieving maximum satisfaction of both service providers and consumers while decreasing the delivery cost of services. Recognizing the importance of the awareness of each individual\´s context for smooth and accurate provision of services, we conceive the flowable service framework that harnesses users\´ contexts to enable pro-active support of human activities in a flexible and natural way. Owing to context-awareness, the framework is able to find and integrate the circumjacent services that are considered to be needed by each individual, and create an ambient service environment tailored to his/her particular needs, proclivities and characteristics.