Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems
Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems

OPENi

Open-Source, Web-Based, Framework for Integrating Applications with Social Media Services and Personal Cloudlets

Casual business woman hand holding and using mobile smart phone, work on laptop computer with digital tablet pc on the desk at modern home office. Online working, e business concept. Flare light.
© iStock / Nikcoa

In today’s society, accessing cloud-based services, such as YouTube, Spotify, Facebook, TripAdvisor, is predominantly through applications on mobile devices. Through everyday usage, consumers of these services provide these services providers with an immense amount of content and personal data. However, due to the lack of consumer-controlled cloud storage infrastructures and the siloed nature of cloud-based services, consumers are deprived of any control over their content or data. Furthermore, they are unable to make this data available to multiple applications across various services and devices – something which has led to a significantly impaired application usage experience and stagnation in application innovation. OPENi will define and deliver an open-source web platform that will enable mobile application consumers to store data and metadata from their mobile application usage in their own space in the cloud – the “Cloudlet”. This information can be shared (by and under the control of the consumer) securely among their applications, services and across their connected devices. To realize this vision OPENi will provide the required components that will support both consumers in creating and managing their Cloudlets but also Developers in creating applications that will be able to access and interact with them without disrupting service providers. OPENi will define and deliver the following prototype infrastructures

  • A cloud platform that will allow Users to instantiate, deploy and manage their own Cloudlet.
  • An API framework that will allow Developers to build applications that integrate dynamically a broader spectrum of cloud-based services and at the same time can access User Cloudlets to store and retrieve content and data.
  • A set of value adding services, such as data brokering, access authorization and multi device UI rendering, that will allow Developers to easily access and use the content and data stored in the Cloudlets across several applications and devices.

OPENi Concept

OPENi will deliver a consumer-centric, open source mobile cloud applications solution that will be the catalyst for mobile application innovation advancement. The platform will incorporate an open framework that will be capable of interoperating with any cloud-based service, abstracting the integration challenges to a single open standard without losing any service features. It will be a single platform that will inherently promote innovation by offering application developers an advanced framework in which to design and build complex applications involving the combinations of independent cloud-based services.

A central concept to OPENi is to reduce the fragmentation and duplication of citizens’ data. OPENi will provide application users with a single location to store and control their personal data. This personal Cloudlet will enable consumers to manage what information is available to each application and for what purpose. It will be a single authorative source for their personal data and content. The cloudlet will empower application consumers to remain in control of their data – it will be inherently secure and trustworthy and as an open technology, validated by the open source community, consumers will be assured their data is not being used without their consent. The combination of the open API and cloudlet concept creates a single platform of user data and service connectivity making OPENi a very powerful and beneficial platform for consumers, application developers and service providers. The figure below depicts how OPENi intends to interact with the service providers and the applications.

Fraunhofer FOKUS Role

The Fraunhofer FOKUS Business Unit Future Applications and Media (FAME) is leader for work package WP4 - Implementation of OPENi platform components. We will focus on Open Source APIs that will allow applications to connect seamlessy to a broad spectrum of existing cloud-based services. Beyond common cloud frameworks we will deliver an Open Source platform that will allow end-users to create, deploy and manage their personal space in the cloud. Furthermore we will deliver technologies for infrastructure virtualisation, cross-platform execution as needed for service composition across multiple, heterogeneous environments, autonomous management of hardware and software resources.

Project Partners

Waterford Institute of Technology, National Technical University of Athens, Fraunhofer FOKUS, Logica, Ambiesense LTD, Velti, Betapond Limited