Some questions arising from the Issues

Issue 1: Opportunity to use Future Internet technology in enterprise environments

New network and service infrastructures are expected to emerge, replacing the current Internet and Web.

• FI technologies and the Enterprise: What are FI technologies? How would FI technologies improve the business capabilities of enterprises? How would FI technologies impact on enterprises’ ability to collaborate, to compete and to interoperate? Are there key FI technologies that will critically change enterprises’ way of working? Is it likely to be a (disruptive) transformation, or an incremental evolution, or a mix of both?

• Is “Enterprise 2.0” the logical path forward?

• If corporate IT is generally slow in embracing and implementing change, do FI technologies present particularly new opportunities for SMEs?

Issue 2: Future Internet for Enterprises: value proposition and business models of networked businesses

• The Value Proposition for Enterprise Interoperability (VPEI) Report identifies three value levels for enterprises: value innovation, differentiation and efficiency. How does FI impinge on the level of value that an enterprise may obtain? That Report advocates that enterprises achieve the greatest value level through value innovation. Is such a view appropriate also for enterprises operating in the FI context?

• The VPEI Report also argues that the value level that a company may achieve is directly linked to the openness of the business model, the intensity of the company’s innovation process and the degree of engagement of the company with its business partners and customers. It states that EI is a crucial enabler in this respect. Should the same perspective be applied to FI technologies for enterprises? Should there be a strategic focus on those technologies or technology paradigms that may contribute to realising the above three parameters?

• Assuming that the view of utility service based business models and value added service based business models would hold (or even strengthened) for the provisioning of FI technologies, how would that impact on the business models of networked businesses? For example, would the economics of networked businesses be changed? What about sustainability (e.g. the so-called “$0.00” business)? Recognising the broad range of strategies of leading Web 2.0 companies as well as traditional ICT companies in creating new markets and/or addressing new global challenges, are the existing conceptual models of a “business” adequate for the 21^st century?  

Issue 3: System requirements for enterprise networking in Future Internet paradigms