Abstract
This paper is meant to share some views on the relevance of science and R&D to business development and to sustainable economic growth. While attempting to do this, it is also meant to present some insight to an encompassing and complex reality with a multitude of interacting actors with different values, motivations, time-frames, cultures and even language: scientists, technologists, entrepreneurs, brokers, investors, politicians, etc. In this paper, knowledge is first discussed as the competitive advantage of our time. Then, the "knowledge-to-competitiveness" value chain is presented and discussed. Being innovation a key concept, the various types of innovation are discussed and the use of some major innovation management tools is briefly introduced. The business perspective is then put forward, discussing the complex mechanics of knowledge management scoring, due-diligence and rationale supporting investment decisions in novel science-based companies.

Abstract
Applications and products currently available for the broadcasting market are vertically integrated or proprietary They are based on components requiring specific and costly development to interoperate and typically rely on a single manufacturer or system integrator Hence, they are not fully compliant with broadcasters' requirements. Architectural Solutions for Services Enhancing digital Television (ASSET) is a European-funded project. Its main goal is to overcome the limitations of custom-specific implementations in a digital system for TV content creation. These limitations are generally due to the misfit of interfaces between software layers, proprietary application program interfaces (APIs) of equipment from different vendors, and the lack of a generalized middleware for multimedia content management with openly defined interfaces. Besides presenting the ASSET-proposed architecture and concepts, this paper describes the prototype under development to test and demonstrate the project proposals.

Abstract
This paper characterizes refinement of state-based software components modelled as pointed coalgebras for some Set endofunctors. The proposed characterization is parametric on a specification of the underlying behaviour model introduced as a strong monad. This provides a basis to reason about (and transform) state-based software designs.

Abstract
Existing e-marketplaces, built on traditional client-server architectures, severely restrict the scope and dynamics of Business-to-Business (B2B) interactions. Peer-to-peer (P2P) architectures will provide far more decentralized infrastructures, while allowing a much wider range of business patterns to take place. On one hand, the interaction over a P2P network resembles the way real-world enterprises perform business with each other. On the other hand, a small set of simple services is enough to support complex business processes over a P2P infrastructure. Incidentally, most of the required technology is readily available, although it may be necessary to bring in an appropriate integration of different concepts. The paper discusses the implementation of essential services for P2P e-marketplaces, based on one of the leading P2P platforms, and illustrates its benefits by applying the P2P approach to a vendor of industrial equipment.

Abstract

Abstract
Every time a workflow solution is conceived there is a large amount of functionality that is eventually reinvented and redeveloped from scratch. Workflow management systems from academia to the commercial arena exhibit a myriad of approaches having as much in common as in contrast with each other. Efforts in standardizing a workflow reference model and the gradual endorsement of those standards have also not precluded developers from designing workflow systems tailored to specific user needs. This article is written in the belief that an appropriate set of common workflow functionality can be abstracted and reused in forthcoming systems or embedded in applications intended to become workflow-enabled. Specific requirements and a prototype implementation of such functionality, named Workflow Kernel, are discussed.