PERSONALIZATION AND USER PROFILE MANAGEMENT

Abstract. Personalization and effective user profile management will be critical to meet the individual users ’ needs and for achieving eInclusion and eAccessibility. This paper outlines means to achieve the goal of the new ICT era where services and devices can be personalized by the users in order to meet their needs and preferences, in various situations. Behind every instance of personalization is a profile that stores the user preferences, context of use and other information that can be used to deliver a user experience tailored to their individual needs and preferences. Next Generation Networks (NGN) and the convergence between telephony and Internet services offer a wide range of new terminal and service definition possibilities, and a much wider range of application in society. This broadening of the communication possibilities demonstrates the importance of harmonized profiles for achieving e-Inclusion, in order to suit all users including disabled, young and elderly people- in different situations. The user profile concept is not limited to cover today’s ICT market, but also embraces ubiquitous services and applications, and supports interaction with a wide range of devices in intelligent homes. This paper describes the personalization and profile management activities at European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). 1