THE B@HOME PROJECT
My PhD research is part of the B@Home project. B@Home is initiated by Freeband, a national research programme in the Netherlands, funded by the Dutch government. Freeband aims at “establishing, maintaining and reinforcing the Dutch knowledge position at the international forefront of scientific and technological developments, addressing the most urgent needs for research and novel applications in the present unfolding of new technology”. In the Freeband programme, more than 30 organisations participate in various research projects. These projects vary from a research about sharing resources in virtual communities (I-Share) to a project that develops a user centric ambient communication environment (PNP2008).
B@Home is a four year research project that focuses on the future of broadband multimedia services in the home. Six partners from research and business; Erasmus University Rotterdam, TNO, Philips, Lucent Technologies, Logica CMG and the Technical University of Eindhoven, cooperate to develop new business models as well as architectures for future broadband services for the residential user. The project is initially focusing on the entertainment domain. The most important research questions addressed by the project are:
- Which dynamic business models are viable for generic network and service architectures connecting broadband access networks and home networks in different application domains? Which roles in these business models are feasible for policy makers and users?
- How is standardization in broadband home networks and applications evolving? What are the implications for business and policy?
- How can networks and services be managed (remotely) in an environment of multiple service and network providers? What are the viable architectures for service discovery, access and delivery in heterogeneous home networks?
- What are the functional and technical requirements, the user experiences and the useful business models for applications in media-entertainment at home?
The part of the B@Home project this PhD project is part of, focuses on the development of business models, mentioned in the first research question. Different aspects of business modelling are taken into account, for example standardisation and policy. This PhD project covers the user aspect and this can be made part of a business model.