4 Work Plan

This section outlines a detailed work plan for this programme with provisional deliverables. As the programme spans a period of four years it is not sensible to assume that the deliverable schedule will be sufficient. Therefore the Work Package on management details a structure for updating the deliverable requirements as dictated by new requirements as the programme progresses. In contrast to the research themes, which targeting the scientific challenges, the work packages are an instrument to provide a permanent control of the quality of the programme itself.

The realisation of solutions for the interconnection and management of smart spaces requires the co-operation of research teams with expertise in a number of key technical areas such as wireless communications systems and networks, information management and telecommunications networks and service management. The proposed research programme incorporates research teams with the required areas of expertise. Hence the logic behind a joint proposal from research groups from WIT, CIT and TCD. The partners, based on previous experience in the management of multiparty collaborative research projects, have put together a work package framework that is designed to maximise the level of interaction between the research teams and maximise the output from the work programme. The complexity of the research challenges, which must be addressed by today’s third level research community points to the importance of the establishment of such trans-institutional research initiatives. This work programme is seen as a platform for the development of a formalised long-term integrated research programme between the three research teams and their international partners.

The research work programme is supported through the definition of a set of work packages. Six work packages are proposed. WP0 is responsible for the overall management of the research programme. WP1 is responsible for ensuring that the work plan reflects the state of the art in research into smart spaces and associated research themes. The research programme will be developed within the context of three work packages, where each of them focuses on an individual aspect of ubiquitous management. These three work packages reflect the state of the art as gathered in WP1. The main scientific research work packages are WP2, WP3 and WP4. The main focus of WP2 is to express and coordinate architectural approaches for the research themes. WP3 takes these approaches and uses them to design models, algorithms and processes that address specific research challenges within the research themes. WP4 conducts the experimental validation of the developed concepts through the formation of experiments, which will be executed within computer simulation and/or physical test-bed environments. WP5 is responsible for the evaluation of the research results and the dissemination of these results through workshops, conference and journal papers and a project website (www.mzones. org). Figure 1.1 defines the interrelationship between the work packages and shows how the research themes are integrated into the programme. Each work package will produce reports as a means to make available the results of the research programme and allow evaluation and feedback particularly from our international expert partners (BT and FhG-Fokus).

In order to optimally utilise the available expertise of the three participating research groups in addressing the research challenges of the M-Zones programme, joint research groups from researchers of all of the three partners will be formed to carry out the tasks of work packages WP1 to WP5. Each group will have one of the principal researchers nominated as leader (see work package description), who will be responsible for ensuring that the work package plan is carried out according to specification and that objectives are achieved. In order to maximise the benefit of having the right expertise among the three partners, researchers from each partner will be spending some time at one of the other partners research laboratories as required.