gCube: a service-oriented application framework on the grid

gCube is a new service-oriented application framework that supports the on-demand sharing of resources for computation, content and application services. gCube enables the realization of e-infrastructures that support the notion of Virtual Research Environments (VREs), ie collaborative digital environments through which scientists, addressing common research challenges, exchange information and produce new knowledge. gCube is currently used to govern the e-infrastructure set up by the European integrated project DILIGENT (A Digital Library Infrastructure on Grid-Enabled Technology).