Boosting the competitiveness of European software SMEs
Industry's inadequate adoption of existing technology standards in this field has benefited major software development companies rather than small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With this in mind, the EU-funded W3TV(opens in new window) (Methodologies and tools for the cost-effective development of high-quality Web applications for Internet-enabled TV Consumer Electronics and IPTV) project aimed to provide a set of software engineering methodologies and tools to allow European software SMEs to easily enter the market of applications development for Internet-enabled TV-Ces and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). It also enabled them to easily migrate their applications across different platforms. Work began by analysing the state of the art in Internet-enabled TV platforms, applications and development tools. Project partners defined user requirements and the W3TV technical requirements. The team developed W3TV software engineering methodologies and tools, which include the Platform Migration and Application Engineering Methodology, the W3TV Toolset, the Application Transformation Tool, and the Testing and Simulation Environment. An assessment of their effectiveness followed. These methodologies and tools will be used by engineers to develop their web applications over and above the reference and various target platforms. Project members also developed a set of applications, including a Travel Guide application, a User Generated Content application and a Video-On-Demand application. W3TV will help reduce investment in software engineering tools and the associated risks, as well as dependence on TV-CE manufacturers and IPTV platform providers. New sales channels will be created, leading to the potential for new revenues and enhanced competitiveness for European software SMEs.
