Software & Service Architectures and Infrastructures

"Playing to win in the new software market". An industry expert group – software vendors, SMEs, business associations and analysts – have reviewed the status of the software and services industry, identifying the main issues facing it, and formulating recommendations for addressing them in a European Software Strategy.

This report is a summary of seven Industrial Working Groups that adressed elements of a possible Software Strategy :

Industrial Working Groups

• WG 1 - Future Internet - Future Growth opportunities for the Software Industry
• WG 2 - Business Technology Trends in the Software Industry
• WG 3 - IPR, Standards and Interoperability
• WG 4 - Public Procurement – Financing Software Innovation
• WG 5 - SMEs – Reduction of Fragmentation
• WG 6 - Skills and Lifelong Learning
• WG 7 - Open Source Software

After analysis of the recommendations of the industrial workgroups, an additional meeting was held with a group of FLOSS SME businesses. A report of this meeting can be found here.

Initial Contributions from Industry

• The European Software Association (ESA)
  
• The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS)
• SAP
• The NESSI European Technology Platform
• Syntec-Informatique involving the national IT associations of Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the UK
• Open Forum Europe (OFE) and The Open Source Business Organisations of Europe (OBOOE)
• The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA)

Call for views on a European Software Strategy

In November 2007, Commissioner Reding called upon industry to provide views on a European software strategy ("Towards a European Software Strategy", Truffle 100 event, 19 November 2007). Several European Software and Services industrial organisations submitted contributions which identified a diversity of issues, barriers, and challenges.