The successful execution of workflows using mobile services is dependant on the services behaving as expected. The management of this behaviour in Akogrimo is achieved by a context management framework bridging both the network and Grid middleware. The quality of the information that passes over this link is essential to the whole Akogrimo application. In order to ensure relevant and specific context information is used in Akogrimo the development of mechanism to aid network to middleware service to service understanding is essential. In creating such a mechanism the concept of self similarity in creating understanding between services is essential. The challenges and issues when applying this process to Akogrimo's unique mix of services are discussed in this paper.

Abstract. VDM and B are two mature formal methods currently in use by industry and supported by commercial tools. Though the methods are foundationally similar, the coverage of their supporting tools differ significantly. The SPECTRUM project has investigated the feasibility of integrating support for the two methodologies. In this paper, we describe the project and report on some technical results.

VDM and B are two "model-oriented" formal methods. Each gives a notation for the specification of systems as state machines in terms of a set of states with operations defined as relations on that set. Each has a notion of refinement of data and operations based on the principles of reduction of nondeterminism and increase in definedness. The paper makes a comparison of the two notations through an example of a communications protocol previously formalized by G. Bruns and S. Anderson (1994). Two abstractions and two reifications of the original specification are given. Particular attention is paid to three areas where the notations differ: the use of postconditions that assume the invariant as opposed to postconditions that enforce it; the explicit "framing" of operations as opposed to the "minimal frame" approach; and the use of relational postconditions as opposed to generalized substitutions.>