Open Calls
From time to time, TechWatch issues open calls for reports it wishes to publish. These open calls are indicative statements of the area under investigation, and potential authors interested in writing a report should have expertise in the technologies and standards of the proposed subject area and be prepared to speculate on future developments. Standard reports are between 6,000 and 8,000 words (not including references) although longer reports may also be commissioned if a particular subject warrants extra coverage. Full details of report format, author fees and terms and conditions are available from the authors' page, along with details of how to submit an expression of interest in an open call.
Subject areas currently in open call are:
Service Clouds and the future of the browser and desktop operating systems
For some time there have been predictions that the browser could replace the desktop operating system as the primary interface for accessing and controlling applications. Recent moves by Google (for example, in purchasing Writely, a browser-based word processing package) suggest that this might be becoming viable. Increasingly, technology commentators argue that applications will move off the desktop to become services provided over the Web through a 'service cloud'. Such applications are sometimes referred to as 'thin' clients or Rich Internet Applications (RIA) in contrast to desktop-based applications, which are considered 'thick'.
A number of recent technologies have created a period of considerable flux and changed some of the technical assumptions surrounding thin and thick clients and models of operation such as the traditional client/server arrangement. For example, there is a growing interest in the development of what are known as Rich Client Applications (RCA), through technologies such as Eclipse framework's Rich Client Platform (RCP), .NET and Netbeans. On the other hand, browser components are being built which enable browsers to be embedded in applications, for example, IBM's Lotus Expeditor. There have also been developments in peer-to-peer technologies where each peer acts as both a client and a server.
On the Web-based, RIA, side of the debate are applications that have become increasingly sophisticated, that include more client side processing than traditional websites, and that have taken on some the trappings of traditional desktop applications. Gartner describes these as falling between "the fat but rich client/server model and the thin but poor Web based UI model" (Loosley). There has been the continued development of AJAX, Java Applets, Flash and newer technologies like SilverLight.
At the same time Microsoft has launched Vista, Apple continues to release updates to MacOS, and Linux is being widely adopted. But is this the last hurrah of the desktop operating system? What are the implications for learning and research of the possible adoption of the browser as the primary interface to applications? What are the security issues? What are the pros and cons of the RIA versus the RCA models? If desktop applications become Web 2.0-type services, with a 'perpetual beta' model, how will users be able to rely on a consistent level of functionality and service? What about the implications for bandwidth and firewall configuration? Is the service cloud model intrinsically better adapted to a new way of working which is more team-based, globalised and involves innovation by collaboration? In response to these issues, how might operating systems develop over the next five or so years? What new developments in OS design research could challenge the move to a service cloud structure?
JISC TechWatch would like to commission a report on the subject of service clouds and the future of the browser and desktop operating systems. We would like to hear from suitable authors who have a deep interest and experience in this field or with knowledge of operating systems research. Interested authors should be prepared to offer original insights and speculate on developments over a five to ten year period. Anyone interested in being an author or peer reviewer should contact TechWatch.
Reference: Loosley, C. Web applications: richer or poorer? E-commerce Times, 17 Feb 2006
Biometrics
We define biometrics as the measurement of attributes of an individual which can help identify that person uniquely. With this report we would like to assist the education community with the process of preparing for a future in which biometric identity is potentially a feature of everyday educational life. This preparation will begin with increasing the understanding of biometrics and their current practical uses within tertiary education and then develop into a wider appreciation of the potential of future biometric scenarios and their 'political' and 'social' implications.