A federated Testbed for Future Networks (and 5G) SoftFIRE partners are aiming at Research and Innovation actions pursuing the integration of existing experimental facilities, testbeds and laboratories into FIRE+ framework. The project focuses on new technologies like Software Defined Networks and Network Function Virtualization in order to create a reliable, secure, interoperable and programmable experimental network infrastructure within the FIRE+ initiative. The Consortium is federating existing experimental testbeds to create an infrastructure that Third Parties can use to develop new services and applications. The federation is a step towards the creation of a new network experimental infrastructure that could be used as an initial 5G oriented platform. The SoftFIRE testbed offers the possibility to assess and improve platform solutions. In this environment there are three key elements to consider: programmability, interoperability and security. These properties have to be assessed in terms of efficiency, functional responsiveness and in general terms End to End capabilities. The main objective of SoftFIRE is to demonstrate and assess the level of maturity of adopted solutions and to show how they can support the full potential of these properties in a real world infrastructure by creating, nurturing and supporting an ecosystem of Third Parties able to make use of the SoftFIRE+ testbed and to functionally extend it. The project aims at creating a broad ecosystem of companies engaged with the evolution of the SoftFIRE testbed. To achieve this goal, the project is going to spend a considerable part of its effort and budget for involving Third Parties in the usage and consolidation of the platform. The mechanisms envisaged for this are: Open Calls and specific events (like Hackathons, Plug-tests and Challenges). The federated infrastructure will be used in order to: a) develop new services and applications from Third parties, and b) develop new platform functionalities. A presentation about SoftFIRE is available here: SOFTFIRE_Introduction_20160503
