The Autonomic Systems series aims at creating a platform of communication between universities and industry by publishing research monographs, outstanding PhD theses, and peer reviewed compiled contributions on the latest developments in the field. It covers a broad range of topics from the theory of autonomic systems that are researched by academia and industry. Hence, cutting-edge research, prototypical case studies, as well as industrial applications are in the focus of this series. Fast reviewing provides a most convenient way to publish latest results in this rapid moving research area. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Printed on acid-free paperThis book is published under the trade name Birkhäuser The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland (www.birkhauser-science.com)
ForewordOC-Trust, this is an acronym representing a research cooperation that addressed one of the core challenges of the emerging digitalisation of almost every facet of our professional and private lives. How can we develop trust into the widely autonomous provisioning of digital functionality and associated services? We expect those services to know what we want them to provide, but we are not physically capable and do not want to programme those multitudes of devices explicitly. So, we increasingly depend on their capability to self-configure, self-optimise, selfheal and self-protect, to name a few of the many so-called self-* properties. But how do we know to what extent they will actually satisfy our expectations? They should be aware of our personal preferences, but will they respect our privacy? If agents act autonomously, how can their operating environment distinguish between trustworthy and malicious agents? This kind of almost contradictory questions and requirements is concerned with the trustworthiness of artefacts that are meant to be self-organising and widely autonomous but nevertheless capable to adapt to potentially changing requirements...
