Using Logically Hierarchical Meta Web Services to Support Accountability in Mashup Services

Mashups are next generation of Web applications; they integrate and remix different sources on the Web in a creative approach to provide rich and novel experiences for users. Furthermore, mashups introduce a new class of integration technologies for implementing situational applications (i.e. applications that come together for solving some immediate business problems). While mashup services provide flexibility and speed in delivering new valuable services to consumers, the issue of accountability associated with the mashups remains largely ignored by the industry. Pushing mashups to enterprises without attention to accountability problems involves many risks. In this paper, a new model is proposed to resolve accountability issues in mashup services. The proposed model uses PKI (public key infrastructure) in conjunction with logically hierarchical meta Web services to support identification and traceability of Web services in mashups and consequently provides a trusted environment for enterprise mashups.