Description S-Cube, the Software Services and Systems Network, will establish an integrated, multidisciplinary, vibrant research community that will enable Europe to lead the software-services revolution...S-Cube, the Software Services and Systems Network will establish a unified, multidisciplinary, vibrant research community which will enable Europe to lead the software-services revolution, helping shape the software-service based Internet which is the backbone of our future interactive society.By integrating diverse research communities, S-Cube intends to achieve world-wide scientific excellence in a field that is critical for European competitiveness. S-Cube will accomplish its aims by meeting the following objectives: Re-aligning, re-shaping and integrating research agendas of key European players from diverse research areas and by synthesizing and integrating diversified knowledge, thereby establishing a long-lasting foundation for steering research and for achieving innovation at the highest level.Inaugurating a Europe-wide common program of education and training for researchers and industry thereby creating a common culture that will have a profound impact on the future of the field.Establishing a pro-active mobility plan to enable cross-fertilisation and thereby fostering the integration of research communities and the establishment of a common software services research culture.Establishing trust relationships with industry via European Technology Platforms (specifically NESSI) to achieve a catalytic effect in shaping European research, strengthening industrial competitiveness and addressing main societal challenges.Defining a broader research vision and perspective that will shape the software-service based Internet of the future and will accelerate economic growth and improve the living conditions of European citizens.S-Cube will produce an integrated research community of international reputation and acclaim that will help define the future shape of the field of software services. S-Cube will provide service engineering methodologies which facilitate the development, deployment and adjustment of sophisticated hybrid service-based systems that cannot be addressed with today’s limited software engineering approaches. S-Cube will further introduce an advanced training program for researchers and practitioners. Finally, S-Cube intends to bring strategic added value to European industry by using industry best-practice models and by implementing research results into pilot business cases and prototype systems.