Context-awareness enabling new business models in smart spaces

This paper describes how emerging context-awareness technologies will act as a driving force for introduction of intelligently personalized services in smart spaces. The according context-awareness framework is taken from the results of the EU FP 7 project "C-CAST". Major novelties include a highly scalable context management architecture as well as a context prediction methodology. The paper considers business models and financial structures as well as service and application examples that might be realized in smart spaces enriched with environmental, personal, social, and network context information. From a commercial perspective on context-aware applications in smart spaces, these examples differ from traditional Telecom and IT services and demonstrate how Telecom and IT companies may strengthen and leverage their business based on context information about customers, services and their environments that is abundantly available in smart spaces. Moreover, this paper i ncludes the description of a field trial with new applications in quasi-smart space environments.