E-service classification techniques to support discovery in a mobile multichannel environment

Featuring aspect of a mobile multichannel environment is that users want to be able to obtain e-services in any context in which they can operate and always with the best possible performances. Therefore, a flexible and adaptive e-service delivery approach is essential to cope with possible limitations imposed by changes in the context (i.e., user profile, geographical location, available channels and usable devices). In particular, an effective dynamic delivery of services requires the capability of discovering groups of services, which can substitute each other, with similarity properties based on their functionalities and quality factors. In this framework, a relevant role is thus assumed by methods and tools for the classification of services by considering offered functionalities and reference quality parameters. In this paper, we present an ontology-based approach and classification techniques based on the analysis of e-service descriptions, for both functional and nonfunctional aspects, and we discuss how they support e-service discovery.