diff --git a/net/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/Element.java b/net/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/Element.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c11d103
--- /dev/null
+++ b/net/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/Element.java
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package org.onlab.onos.net;
+
+import org.onlab.onos.net.provider.Provided;
+
+/**
+ * Base abstraction of a network element, i.e. an infrastructure device or an end-station host.
+ */
+public interface Element extends Provided {
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the network element identifier.
+     *
+     * @return element identifier
+     */
+    ElementId id();
+
+}