-------- Original-Nachricht -------- Betreff: [AISWorld] Call for Papers: Web as Platform Datum: Wed, 12 May 2010 16:09:34 +0100 Von: Joseph Feller jfeller@afis.ucc.ie An: aisworld@lists.aisnet.org
Call for Papers Cutter IT Journal Joseph Feller, Guest Editor Abstract Due: 21 May 2010 Articles Due: 30 June 2010
The Web as Platform: Opportunities and Challenges Abound
The Web 2.0 movement is now five years old, and we are thankfully moving beyond the hype and starting to focus on putting the new Web to work.(1) Although the edges of Web 2.0 as a technological revolution remain as blurry as ever, at its core there is a single, clear idea: The Web as Platform. Over the last decade, we have seen the Web evolve into an unprecedentedly large and powerful computing platform in three key ways: as an execution platform, as a development platform and as an interface for virtualized hardware.(2)
An Execution Platform. For an increasing number of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), the operating system of choice for new software products has become either the Web as a whole, in the form of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), or individual Web sites like Facebook and iGoogle, in the form of platform applications and widgets. This has created opportunities for ISVs to reach new markets and to better service existing ones, to explore new application spaces and to innovate existing desktop applications by exploiting the inherent connectivity of a network native platform, to re-imagine the software development lifecycle and the management of product releases and upgrades, and to effectively realize the vision of delivering Software as a Service (SaaS).
A Development Platform. XML Web Services and syndication technologies like RSS have transformed the Web into a developer's toolkit of modularized content and functionality components. This has changed the ways in which firms create value online, by creating new opportunities for value-added integrators and by shifting the focus of Web-based firms from stickiness (increasing traffic and loyalty for a firm's Web site) to ubiquity (increasing the Web-wide presence of a firm's content and functionality across all sites). It has also provided developers with a constantly evolving platform for Rapid Application Development (RAD) and an infrastructure for the deployment of Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA), and has stimulated downstream innovation in the form of Mash-ups (and, indeed, user-created aggregations) of Web content and code.
An Interface for Virtualized Hardware. The Web as Platform has become an important component of the broader cloud computing vision, providing an interface for consumers to access and utilize remote storage, processing power and other hardware resources. Most significantly, the Web has allowed cloud computing to move from the data centers and back offices of large enterprises onto the desktops of small firms and into the living rooms of home users.
However, the opportunities created by treating the Web as a Platform are accompanied by significant challenges, both technological and otherwise. In terms of technology, developers must deal with the constraints inherent in a network native environment, which impact on both performance and security. Likewise, the Web interface presents new challenges in terms of both usability and accessibility. Finally, the Web as Platform depends on interoperable standards -- at present we're faced with a variety of competing standards -- both open and proprietary. Beyond technology, the Web as Platform creates a variety of business challenges, including the requisite legal frameworks for handling open development and innovation, changes in the way we deal with customer, partner, vendor and competitor relationships, privacy issues and intellectual property, and so on.
The August 2010 issue of Cutter IT Journal will examine the challenges and opportunities created by the Web as an execution, development and hardware platform.
TOPICS OF INTEREST MAY INCLUDE (but are not limited to) the following:
1. What are the technological enablers for realizing the Web as an execution, development and hardware platform? What aspects of the necessary infrastructure are in place and in what areas do we require more standardization and innovation?
2. What are the legal enablers for realizing the Web as an execution, development and hardware platform? How does the Web as Platform change the way we manage intellectual property, privacy and so on?
3. What are the operational enablers for realizing the Web as an execution, development and hardware platform? How does the Web as Platform change the way we manage relationships with customers, partners, suppliers and competitors?
4. What business models predicated on the Web as an execution, development and hardware platform will emerge in the short-term future? What does the Web as Platform mean for functionality and content providers? For aggregators and other intermediaries?
5. What does the Web as Platform mean for enterprise architects and IT managers? What opportunities and challenges does it create?
6. What does the Web as Platform mean for software engineers? How does it impact on software development methodologies? On software quality? On the release cycle?
7. What are the challenges of the Web as Platform in terms of security and reliability?
8. What are the challenges of the Web as Platform in terms of usability and accessibility?
9. What is the role of mobile technologies in the Web as Platform vision?
10. In what application spaces do we see developers going beyond simply porting traditional applications to the Web and delivering truly innovative software?
11. How does the ability to "remix" content and functionality (mash-ups) stimulate innovation and create value?
12. What is the role of the Web browser in all of this? How is this application space changing? How central is it to realizing the Web as Platform vision?
TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE IDEA Please respond to the Guest Editor, Joseph Feller at jfeller[at]afis[dot]ucc[dot]ie, with a copy to itjournal[at]cutter[dot]com, by 21 May 2010. Include an extended abstract and a short article outline showing major discussion points.
ARTICLE DEADLINE Accepted articles are due by 30 June 2010.
EDITORIAL GUIDELINES Most Cutter IT Journal articles are approximately 2,500-3,500 words long, plus whatever graphics are appropriate. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact CITJ's Group Publisher, Christine Generali at cgenerali[at]cutter[dot]com or the Guest Editor, Joseph Feller at jfeller[at]afis[dot]ucc[dot]ie. Editorial guidelines are available at http://www.cutter.com/content-and-analysis/journals-and-reports/cutter-it-j ournal/edguide.html
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PLEASE FORWARD THIS CALL FOR PAPERS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT HAVE AN APPROPRIATE SUBMISSION.
1.See "Web 2.0 Revisted: Mapping the Evolution of the Phenomenon," Cutter Benchmark Review, Vol. 10, No. 3, March 2010.
2. See Feller, Joseph. "The Web as Platform: What does it mean?" Parts 1-3, Cutter Business Technology Trends and Impacts Advisory Service, Executive Updates, Vol. 10, No. 2, 5 and 6.
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