Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is a term used to describe the evolution of Web usage. It involves changing the web into a database, the leverage of artificial intelligence technologies, the Semantic web or the 3D web. The expression Web 3.0 is relatively new, it was first used in early 2006 in Jeffrey Zeldman’s blog article. While there is much talk of it, the internet has not exactly reached that level yet. In addition, there is still debate on the correct definition of Web 3.0 and what it includes. I will now talk about a couple of possible meanings of what it could be. Firstly, Web 3.0 can be considered as a huge database. A data web would be a collection of data published to the Web in reusable and query able formats, such as XML, RDF and microformats. Secondly, it has been used to describe the future ability for the Web to think in an almost human way, in other words, artificial intelligence. [1]Softwares that will be developed would be able to perform logical reasoning linking concepts and data on the Web. Thirdly, what distinguishes Web 3.0 from Web 2.0 and Web 1.0 is the ability for the internet users to not only play an active role when using a website but even let them to modify the site itself. An existing example of this would be Facebook introducing their API and allow users to embed applications from other sites on to their own. [2]

The application of Web 3.0 in our daily lives will be endless, but I choose to focus on its business use for now. Imagine that an intelligent system designing a personalized retirement plan just for you. That is just one example of how the semantic web can be used by organizations in the financial planning sector. It would revolutionize how businesses can better serve their customers. Instead of spending hours searching for the right flight or the right hotel, consumer will be able to ask the web a single question, and it would present a complete vacation package customized just for you. Currently being tested under a demonstration project, the Web 3.0 system is able to rank all the comments on travel recommendation websites and find the right hotel for a particular user. [3] As this technology is still at the developing stage, it is still too early to predict the downside of it. However, it does stimulate my thoughts on the possibility of employee layoff in an organization due to a more dependency on machines to perform day to day functions.

Markoff, J. (2006, November 12). Entrepreneurs See a Web Guided by Common Sense. The New York Times on the Web. Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/business/12web.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&ei=5070&en=64c717038a3a7803&ex=1189915200

Spivack, N.(n.d.). The Third-Generation Web is Coming. Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0689.html?m%3D3

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2007).Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from September 24, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_3

Sensor Network

A sensor network is made up of a set of small devices spread out in a determined area using sensors to monitor everything such as temperature, sound, pressure, movements, chemical compounds and wind velocity. Sensor nodes in a network include a radio transceiver, a small microprocessor, an energy source and one or more sensors. A point worthy to mention is that unlike RFID chips which simply store data, sensors actively monitor and gather data. A sensor network functions by passing data from unit to unit, then finally back to a central system for interpretation. The technology is still in its development stage. Researchers are working on prototypes in order to produce more efficient sensor nodes. Let us talk about the technicality of a wireless sensor network node. Among the several operating systems that can be used by a sensor, TinyOS is the first operating system specifically designed for such network. TinyOS is based on an event-driven programming model instead of multithreading. When an event occurs, like an incoming data packet or a sensor reading, the program calls the appropriate event handler to handle the event. The event handlers then can post tasks that are planed by the TinyOS for a later time. The data collected from a wireless sensor network is saved in a numerial format in a central base station. Furthermore, the Open Geospatial Consortium is allowing interoperability interfaces and metadata encodings that let real time integration of sensor webs into the Web, facilitating the monitor and control of Wireless Sensor Networks. [1]

For organizations, sensor networks will help to keep business running in many ways. Two examples would be inventory tracking and process monitoring. Many companies are already planning to employ this technology in their day to day functions. York International Corp.plans to set up hundreds of thousands of networked sensors on its clients’ air-conditioning machines. Sensors will monitor temperatures and send the data to the company’s offices. This step is estimated to reduce the workload of the company’s 2000 technicians and at the same time drive up the productivity by 15%. Vice president of BP plc, P.P. Darukhanavala is finding a solution for loss of its oil and gas inventory in sensor network. The sensors he would put in the railcars that transport inventory would keep track of where they are and eliminate the loss of profit ranging from $50,000 to $125,000. However, there are downsides to this new technology as well. Some of these include limited battery life of sensor nodes and communication failure due to wireless interference issues. [2] Another problem with these sensors is the concern with privacy. It could track everything as it might be used in payment systems and could be placed inside of products as ID devices. [3]


Author (2004, December 1). Sensor Networks Make Early Inroads. Retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://www.extremesensors.com/article/Sensor+Networks+Make+Early+Inroads/141113_1.aspx
Green, H. (2003, August 25). Tech Wave 2: The Sensor Revolution. BusinessWeek. Retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_34/b3846622.htm

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2007).Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from September 28, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_sensor_network

Utility Computing

The idea of utility computing is that you can pay for the IT services, such as computation and storage, in the same method as paying for your electricity or gas. This process does not require the customer to actually have to buy the hardwares needed. [1] The power plant-like computing systems will be able to operate at a remote data center and deliver, for example, to a company’s office. IBM has identified three technological trends that make utility computing possible: reduced cost of bandwidth; distributed content and application architecture deployments that shift delivery to the edge of the network; and server and storage virtualization. Some of the technology of utility computing is real today. An example of that would be HP’s Utility Data Center, a switching device for doling out computing jobs. Another example is Veritas Software Corp.’s software that predicts when extra storage capacity is going to be needed. However, one obstacle that prevents this concept to be ready for mainstream corporate use is grid computing. This should be resolved in the near future. IBM has also created this vision for utility computing which it calls e-business on demand. It could be seen as a step further from the traditional IT outsourcing. E-business on demand adds several improvements to it, including: business processes, bandwidth, hardware, middleware, software and managed services. [2]

So what is it like when e-business on demand is fully developed? You will be able to form networked communities so that organizations can create new products and services faster, reach new customers and economically add new relationships, dynamically change existing relationships, simultaneously engage in multiple e-business models and improve access to information by constituents involved in these relationships. All these will result in an increased share of customer spending, a better return on assets, new revenue opportunities and better shareholder return. And what are the characteristics that a future on-demand business has? It is sensitive to environmental changes. It has the ability to react smartly responding to changes in supply or demand, emerging customer, partner, and supplier and employee needs. It is able to adapt business processes easily: to drive performance in a more efficient way, to reduce cost and increase efficiency. Also, it is able to use tightly integrated strategic collaborators to manage different tasks including manufacturing, logistics, and fulfillment to human resources and financial operations. It should also be constantly alert for situations like computer viruses, earthquakes, or sudden spike in demand.[3] And with the help of utility computing, organizations are able to better fulfill these tasks. There is also a negative aspect of this technology. If the utility data center is down, for the period of time that it is down, the company that depend its operations on it would lose money.



Gutierrez, A. (2003, February 17). E-business on demand: A developer’s roadmap. Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/ibm/library/i-ebodov/

Thomas, A.(2003).The Next utility: e-business on demand[Electronic Version]. Network Magazine. Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://www.networkmagazineindia.com/200301/cover4.shtml

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2007).Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from September 24, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_computing