Towards techniques and methodologies for collecting trusted observation results

In monitoring, data collection and analysis, especially for pervasive and dynamic systems, the data collected (the results of observations) can be affected by non-negligible errors and consequently they can lead to misleading or nonoptimal decisions. Although guidelines and good practises to properly collect the results exist and are often applied, the uncertainty of results and the quality of the measuring system is rarely discussed. Written by a 1st year PhD student at the University of Florence, this paper constitutes a research direction for the development of the PhD program: the paper presents a preliminary investigation and two examples towards the assessment of measuring systems and results to provide trusted observations.