Flexible execution and composition of services

According to W3C, a service-oriented architecture (SOA) specifies a set of components whose interfaces can be described, published, discovered and invoked over a network. SOA aims to promote software development in a way that leverages the construction of dynamic systems which can easily adapt to volatile environments and be easily maintained as well. The decoupling of system constituent parts enables the re-configuration of system components according to the end-user’s needs and the system’s environment. Furthermore, the use of widely accepted standards and protocols that are based on XML and operate above internet standards (HTTP, SMTP, etc) enhances interoperability.

The ATHENA Service-Oriented Interoperability (SOI) Framework provides guidelines for developing and integrating software services in service-oriented architectures (SOAs) using Web services and agent technologies.