Michael Gettes, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
Ken Klingenstein, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

The term Middleware has been widely used sometimes without the clear meaning. This presentation offers a definition and outlines the technologies and applications that are considered Middleware from a Research and Academic perspective. The role of the Middleware as a glue between the network infrastructure and user applications is explained. Short overview of related ongoing research in Europe and USA will be presented with the emphasis on the activities related with Internet2 or with the National Science Foundation Middleware Initiative (NMI) which combines Research and Academic middleware efforts. Some of the most important topics will be pointed out.