Future applications and middleware, and their impact on the infrastructure

The Internet today has progressed from being "just a network" through phases as a human communications mechanism and an unrivalled information system to the mere beginning of being a true services network. On the way, it has encountered a series of technical and external challenges that have created some barriers to further development. For the Internet to release its known potential and develop as a resource-sharing computing services platform, these barriers must be torn down. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.