Future of the (P2Rx) Web

1. Future of the (P2Rx) Web Briefing for P2Rx Admin GroupOctober 3, 2003Jackson Hole, WY

2. A Quick Peak into the Future… • Major trends… • …other issues… • a little perspective… • …and some recommendations

3. Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. Niels Bohr

4. Trends that You Should Care About • Pervasive/Mobile Computing • Online Communities • Content Syndication • Personalization of Content • Interoperability • Semantic Web

5. Pervasive/Mobile Computing • What it is • the use of wireless networking to bring web to laptops, cell phones, PDA’s and other networked tools, irrespective of place. • Why it’s Important • more than 10,000,000 people are currently browsing the web with cell phones, PDA’s, etc. Wireless options will change user’s expectations for content and function, and pose challenges to content providers.

6. Online Communities • What it is • a collection of technologies including e-mail, web-based bulletin boards, and peer-to-peer networks, aimed at linking together people of like minds and/or interests • Why it’s Important • although declared “dead” by many e-business pundits, actual participation in online communities continues to grow. Perhaps most importantly, online communities have a huge potential for creating brand loyalty and repeat traffic.

7. Content Syndication • What it is • use of content partnerships (such as P2Rx) and XML-based technologies to share content between information providers. • Why it’s Important • it’s not about technology anymore. Content partnerships are raising user expectations for rich content, even on small and/or specialized sites.

8. Personalization of Content • What it is • a collection of site design strategies that make it possible for users to modify some aspects of content, including layout, color themes, and content selection. • Why it’s Important • it’s not. Yet. But personalization of content can be an important tool in creating loyalty, repeat use, and brand recognition. And as P2Rx moves to modularized, service-based architectures, it becomes an interesting option…

9. Interoperability • What it is • use of software tools and techniques that facilitate easy migration of data from one application to another, or from web site to other applications (contact databases, calendars, ERP, other tools) • Why it’s Important • the ability of users to move data easily between applications is of increasing importance to users. • XML is permitting applications to share data more readily, increasing expectations and potential benefits.

10. Semantic Web • What it is • think of it as meta-tags on steroids. The goal of the semantic web is to allow machines to represent the meaning of web content, allowing the user to find what’s important to them. • Why it’s Important • as content continues to proliferate, tools to put information in context become increasingly important. While still a few years away, solid progress is being made and interest at the CIO level is increasing.

11. Factors Affecting Cost programming effort interdependence technology acquisition learning curve maintainability Factors Affecting Benefit audience reach user engagement community brand loyalty effectiveness & utility maintainability Weighing Cost/Benefit

12. pervasive computing semantic web personalization of content code modularization Code management content syndication keyword reconciliation online communities Interoperability search engine optimization near-term (< 6 months) mid-term ( 6-18 months) long-term (>18 months) Putting things into perspective… ImplementationDifficulty Perceived Benefit

13. Other Issues to Watch • Eolas v. Microsoft • Cold Fusion version creep • the “death” of e-mail?

14. Recommendations • P2Rx should lead in the revitalization of the online P2 community • P2TECH is not dead. But it ain’t well. • P2Rx needs to move ahead aggressively on content syndication • not just development of the tools, but marketing of the content • P2Rx should task it’s webbies to formally evaluate opportunities for content integration

15. Recommendations (continued) • P2Rx sites need to budget for investments in web infrastructure & capabilities • Cold Fusion upgrades • continued support of productivity/management tools • admin training in use of Bugzilla • web staff training

16. Recommendations (continued) • P2Rx should evaluate next steps towards a “semantic P2 web” • funding sources • pilot concepts • project team

17. Resources for Further Reading • Mobile Computing • http://developer.openwave.com/omdt/best_practices_in_xhtml.html • http://builder.cnet.com/webbuilding/pages/Authoring/WAPTutorial/Developers/?tag=st.bl.3881.dir1.bl_WAPTutorial_Developers • Online Communities • http://www.onlineleaders.info/ • http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2002/10/21/community.html • http://onlinecommunityreport.com/ • Content Syndication • http://www.webreference.com/authoring/languages/xml/rss/intro/2.html • Interoperability • http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=179430 • The Semantic Web • http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00048144-10D2-1C70-84A9809EC588EF21&pageNumber=2&catID=2 • Eolas vs Microsoft • http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2914671,00.html

18. The best way to predict the future is to invent it. • Alan Kay