Presentation held at 4th Microsoft Academic Days, 19 November 2009, Berlin, Germany

Abstract
Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is a vision based on which the European Commission funds research activities in the field of information technologies. The vision aims at the seamless delivery of services and applications to the user in an intelligent, effective and transparent way that is easy to understand and use. The implications of the ambient intelligence vision demand for new software architectures and for the development of new hardware devices. The public sector has the potential to develop a critical mass of first users for the AmI technology. By deploying AmI technologies in eGovernment, eHealth and eLearning substantial improvement in costs but also in quality can be introduced. But several challenges prevent the usage of AmI technologies in public services like the lethargy of public institutions to deploy new systems and the consolidation of public spending.