The NetWorld2020 Community (https://www.networld2020.eu/) has issued a whitepaper last summer that is quite relevant for the NGI initiative. The title of the whitepaper is "Service Level Awareness and open multi-service internetworking - Principles and potentials of an evolved Internet ecosystem". I had the honour of leading the editorial team. 

Here is an extract from the Executive summary. 

While recognizing and protecting the strong properties of the current Internet and its basic Internet access service, it is also important to be aware of other inherent properties and even shortcomings of the current Internet and of the single-traffic-mode operation (aka. best-effort). These shortcomings, such as the inherent dilemma of buffering (larger buffers increase statistical multiplexing gain, link filling and resource utilization, while at the same time increasing the delay) and the lack of protection of critical traffic, must be considered, both technically and in terms of the basic Internet business models. Any solution that proposes to mitigate the shortcomings must ensure that the well-functioning and the strong properties of the current Internet are not compromised.

This whitepaper proposes key principles and properties of future open multi-service internetworking that balances the properties of the basic Internet access service and those of future Value-Added Connectivity Services (VACS) in a constructive way. The fundamental motivations are three-fold: i) creating higher value for the customers and ensuring customer choice, ii) achieving higher efficiency of the network resources used, and iii) unleashing the innovation potentials of value added and end-to-end assured connectivity services from any end-point to any end-point on the Internet.

These innovation potentials, both those foreseen and those not yet discovered, are anticipated to be substantial. Network Service Providers (NSPs) have great innovation potentials, but there are even greater potentials for the larger volume of emerging and evolving Online (digital) Service Providers (OSP, or often called OTT) and SMEs that can now innovate on-top-of such value-added connectivity services. From these connectivity services they can develop their businesses and create assured quality and differentiated digital and online services for the benefit of their customers, considering a variety of consumer, business and public sector markets.

For more information, see:

http://www.networld2020.eu/sria-and-whitepapers/

http://www.networld2020.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/NetWorld2020_WP_Service-Level-Awareness_Final_June-16.pdf