Introduction

In the introduction (chapter 1) the following three initial research questions were raised. (1) How can new instruments that apply NG Internet technology help to improve information and knowledge sharing between all stakeholders, especially in the various chains? (2) How can the new instruments be brought to market, i.e. which type of standardisation is required (if any) and how should the software vendor community react? (3) What is the role of traditional Specifications in the future?

In the problem description (chapter 2), it was concluded that increasing the industry's information and knowledge sharing capacity can help change the current static nature of the process into a more dynamic structure that is much more tolerant for change and does not require early agreement about all the details that really cannot be overseen beforehand. In a dynamic system, shortening and strengthening the feedback loop is instrumental in improving the efficiency of the whole system.

This chapter revisits the original research questions, based upon the conclusions from the previous chapters. Every original research question is discussed separately in the following sections.