Service-oriented computing is a popular design methodology for large scale business computing systems. A significant number of companies aim to reap the benefit of cost reduction by realizing B2B and B2C processes on large-scale SOA-compliant software system platforms. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Grid computing are two very pertinent fields that have received a significant and sustained research interest in terms of designing and deploying large scale and high performance computational resource sharing systems. P2P and Grids started as two different distributed computing philosophies which, however, nowadays tend to have a significant overlap: Grid computing represented a more business-oriented orchestration of relatively homogeneous and powerful distributed computing resources to optimize the execution of time consuming tasks whereas P2P networks had an emphasis on the discovery and sharing of resources on the edges of a heterogeneous network. Effectively, these two fields collectively form the de facto basis for the methodologies and techniques that need to be used to develop performance-driven service-oriented software platforms capable of satisfying four key aspects of quality of service: efficiency, scalability, robustness and security.

This handbook aims to address the need for more literature onto the applicability and use of P2P and Grid computing techniques for delivering efficient service-oriented computing. Specifically the book has two key objectives:

• explore how the P2P and Grid paradigms can deliver quality of service in operations like discovery, secure utilization and coordination of distributed services. This addresses the commercial demand for distributed computing.
• use the service-oriented computing as the context of a technical comparison between these two fields. This addresses the distributed computing academic and research community desire to better understand the link between P2P networks and Grids.

• researchers and doctoral students working specifically in P2P computing, Grids or SOA implementations and deployments, primarily as a reference publication, or even in distributed computing, software engineering, Web Services, modeling of business processes, etc.
• academics delivering research-oriented modules in the above fields. This book serves as a collection of related articles to facilitate a broad understanding of this subject and can become a recommended literature in such courses.
• system architects and developers who could decide to adapt and apply a number of the techniques and processes presented in the book.
• managers and IT consultants as a book that demonstrates the potential applicability of certain methods to delivering efficient and secure commercial electronic services to customers globally.

• Theme 1: Fundamentals (surveys, literature reviews, tutorials and new contributions) of service-oriented computing, P2P and Grid systems
  Service-orientation, taxonomies, typical P2P and Grid architectures and services, search strategies, optimization schemes, P2P & Grid computing tutorials, P2P & Grid Systems modeling and simulations, P2P & Grid comparisons.
• Theme 2: Efficiency
  Service utilization, reputation management, network self-organization and reconfiguration, adaptive networks, task scheduling, performance measurement, network monitoring, agent-assisted P2P-Grids systems.
• Theme 3: Scalability & Robustness
  Standard and mobile P2P/Grids network topologies, service contracts, workflow management, service migration, resource caching techniques, load balancing, P2P & Grid network simulators/testbeds, multi-layered P2P-Grid systems.
• Theme 4: Security
  Trust calculation and management, payment schemes, access control, free riding prevention, P2P and Grid economies, digital rights management schemes, distributed authentication, PKI infrastructures, distributed storage and management of certificates.
• Theme 5: Service-oriented applications of P2P and Grids
  Digital business ecosystems, media streaming, office applications, aggregate computing, wireless sensor networks, content distribution networks, application-specific P2P/Grids feasibility studies, instant messaging, collaborative desktop applications, social networking, computational and data Grids, distributed operating systems, cloud computing, video-on-demand and P2P telephony.

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before September 15, 2008, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by September 30, 2008 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by November 15, 2008. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the Information Science Reference (formerly Idea Group Reference) and Medical Information Science Reference imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com.

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) or by mail to:

Dr. Nick Antonopoulos
Department of Computing, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK
Tel.: +44 1483 686052 * Fax: +44 (0) 1483 686051
E-mail: n.antonopoulos@surrey.ac.uk