Ubiquitous Network Society

Technology is evolving faster than ever in the ITC domain. Computing devices become smaller and more powerful by the day (and cheaper than ever). They have started to move away from the classical “computer†towards portable devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones. Even these devices are no longer what they used to be. A phone is no longer a simple voice communication device, but a minicomputer with lots of functions. The addition of wireless communication protocols, like WiFi and Bluetooth, leads to a web of interconnected devices with the final purpose of enabling us to access desired services anywhere, at any time. Adding less complicated devices, as sensors and detectors, located everywhere (clothes, cars, furniture, home appliances etc.) but connected to the same global network, we have a technological world aware of itself and aware of us, ready to serve our needs without hindering our lives. “Ubiquitous computing names the third wave in computing, just now beginning. First were mainframes, each shared by lots of people. Now we are in the personal computing era, person and machine staring uneasily at each other across the desktop. Next comes ubiquitous computing, or the age of calm technology, when technology recedes into the background of our lives.†[Weiser, 1995]