Fifth International World Wide Web Conference

May 6-10, 1996, Paris, France

Invited Presentations

Tuesday 7 May

Invited Presentation
Chair: Eric Bier - Xerox Corporation - USA

IS1: Stu Weibel (11:30-12:15)
Senior Research Scientist - OCLC Office of Research

[Slides]

Abstract

Mending Our Net: Gathering, Describing, and Preserving Information in the Digital World

Recent workshops concerning metadata in the US, Australia, and Europe have advanced resource description practices for networked information. This session will summarize recent developments in resource description standards and describe the progress made in the evolution of Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) standards. The discussion will identify areas of progress, problems of particular difficulty, and how additional components of a digital information architecture might be deployed to improve the reliability and stability of the Web as an information system.

Bio

Stuart Weibel has worked in the Office of Research at OCLC since 1985. During this time he has managed projects in the areas of automated cataloging, document capture and structure analysis, and electronic publishing.

He currently coordinates networked information research projects in the Office of Research, including applications of World Wide Web technology and Internet protocol standardization efforts. Dr. Weibel is active in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) working groups on Hypertext Markup Language and Uniform Resource Identifiers. He is also a founding member of the International World Wide Web Conference Committee (IW3C2).

Other areas of service include participation on the Task Force on the Preservation of Digital Information and the ALCTS task force on Bibliographic Access to Electronic Resources.

IS2: Bob Scheifler (12:15-13:00)
President - X Consortium, Inc.

Broadway: Universal Access to Interactive Applications over the Web

Broadway combines new and existing technologies to securely integrate full-fledged interactive applications (not just applets) into the World Wide Web, resulting in universal access to both UNIX and Windows applications from every desktop. In contrast to solutions requiring the developer to acquire and learn a new development environment and rewrite all or parts of their application in a new language, Broadway uses under-the-covers protocols, allowing the application developer to leverage existing languages, libraries, tools and skills, and even make use of unmodified existing applications. The major components of Broadway include an Internet-optimized X Window System network protocol, an Internet-ready audio network protocol, Internet security for X and audio, remote execution of applications over the Web, and embedding of those applications in browsers and other Web-aware applications.

The presentation will show where Broadway fits architecturally among the various client/server choices available today, and describe the Intranet and Internet business opportunities opened up by Broadway. Broadway specifications will be open X Consortium standards, and sources will be freely available, but use of sources will be covered by a new licensing plan designed to have very little impact on individuals, educational institutions, distribution sites, ISVs, end users, and X Consortium members.

Bio

Robert W. Scheifler is President of X Consortium, Inc., overseeing development of the X Window System, Motif, and the Common Desktop Environment. He was the chief architect of the X Window System protocol, and created the Consortium originally as part of MIT while a Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science. Prior to that, he participated in the design and implementation of the CLU and Argus programming languages and systems. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.S. in Computer Science from MIT.

Wednesday 8 May

Invited Presentation 2
Chair: Al Vezza - MIT / LCS - USA

IS3: James Gosling (14:30-15:15)
Vice President of Sun Microsytems - Chief Scientist of JavaSoft

Bio

James Gosling received a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Calgary, Canada in 1977. He received a PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1983. The title of his thesis was "The Algebraic Manipulation of Constraints".

James Gosling is currently a VP & Fellow at Sun Microsystems. He has built satellite data acquisition systems, a multiprocessor version of Unix, several compilers, mail systems and window managers. He has also built a WYSIWYG text editor, a constraint based drawing editor and a text editor called `Emacs' for Unix systems. At Sun his early activity was as lead engineer of the NeWS window system. More recently he has been the lead engineer for the Java/HotJava system.

IS4: Mark Pesce (15:15-16:00)
BigBook, Inc.

[Conference Speech]

Abstract

Connective, Collective, Corrective: Lessons from VRML

In two years Virtual Reality Modeling Language has grown from little more than a compelling idea to a full-fledged industry. Curiously, VRML is the product of a community of individuals, taking full advanage of technological assets such as email, the Web, etc., to create a forum for collective mind. In less than a year's time, many of the singular talents in graphics, networking and simulation were avid contributors to the group's development process. Finally, in early 1996, Netscape's purchase of Paper Software sealed VRML's fate as a key web technology.

What lessons can be learned from this collective rapid-development process? Why has VRML succeeded to the degree that it has? Is this an idea which can be used as a "template" in other processes - and other communities - to create a forum for collective mind? How is the Web figured as an essential feature in the development of a community's shared ideals?

Bio

Mark Pesce is a cyberspace researcher and theorist. After spending a decade working in data communications, he left Shiva Corporation in 1991 to co-found Ono-Sendai Corporation, an early virtual reality company. After leaving Ono-Sendai in 1993, Mr. Pesce began work on Labyrinth, the prototype for Virtual Reality Modeling Language. In 1994 he established the VRML mailing list on the Internet, as a forum for the public discussion of all issues relating to the advancement of VRML.

Over the following two years, Mr. Pesce helped the VRML grow into a full-fledged community, with outposts in academia, commerce, and a world wide network of enthusiasts. In 1995, New Riders Publishing released Mr. Pesce's first book, VRML, Browsing and Building Cyberspace, critically hailed as an easily understood introduction to the subject. A sought-after lecturer, Mr. Pesce has had the privledge of being an invited speaker at all five International World Wide Web conferences. He is a frequent contributor to magazines such as WIRED, Mondo 2000, Network Computing, and Ziff-Davis' ZD Online service. Mr. Pesce works at BigBook, Inc., in San Francisco.

Thursday 9 May

Invited Presentation 3
Chair: Ira Goldstein - OSF - USA

IS5: Steve Fink (9:30-10:15)
Internet Market Development Manager - Digital Equipment Corporation

Tracking The Small Business Internet Explosion: The Basis For Global Leadership

Small Internet businesses are now playing the leading roll in driving change in the marketplace. Innovative use of Internet technologies and rapidly emerging business models are challenging entrenched businesses and redefining the global playing field. This presentation will use live customer examples from around the globe to illustrate how new technologies and business models are driving change at an unprecented pace. These examples will be used to develop a model for the global marketplace, highlighting issues small businesses, their suppliers, and their competitors must consider.

Bio

Steve's focus on business use of the Internet begin 2 1/2 years ago with work leading to the establishment of Digital's Internet Business Group. Among his past responsibilities have been developing and marketing a range of solutions linking customers and suppliers for finance, health care and telecommunications firms. Steve is currently involved in developing next generation Internet opportunities for Digital, focusing on collaboration, electronic commerce, multi-media and communications. This work has brought him in touch with a wide range of projects in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia/Pacific region. Steve is regularly asked to speak on the Internet, including a presentation to the World Wide Web Consortium Conference in Boston last fall.

IS6: Steven McGeady (10:15-11:00)
Vice President - Intel's Internet Technology

Paradise Lost: Censorship and Centralization on the Web

The World-Wide Web has become the preferred means for distribution of digital information. Advertising firms, graphics artists, and big budgets are now required to create a world-class web site, and small sites go undiscovered and unvisited. Popular sites without deep pockets for hardware are overwhelmed. National governments are attempting censorship and control. Is the Web re-centralizing the Internet? Mr. McGeady, Vice President of Internet Technology Research at Intel Corporation, will discuss the technology being developed at the Intel Architecture Labs and elsewhere to help maintain the distributed, democratic, and innovative nature of the net in the face of the rapid growth and changing nature of the Web.

Bio

Steven McGeady is Vice President of Intel's Internet Technology, a part of the Intel Architecture Labs. Mr McGeady's work focuses on technology innovations for end-to-end internetworking solutions. He has led the company in the development of advanced software technology and applications that enable personal computers to transmit, receive, display, and manipulate new types of digital information such as graphics, audio, and interactive video over high-performance full-service digital networks.

Mr. McGeady has served at Intel for 11 years, providing strategic business vision in the area of software applications. His group's accomplishments include the creation of the Indeo Video Software compression technology, the DCI Display Control Interface, key ProShare Personal Conferencing technology, CNN@Work technology, and the Desktop News LAN video capability and the Intercast technology.

Mr. McGeady's technical background comes in part from being an early hacker of UNIX systems, compilers, operating systems, and graphics software, and from being an active Internet user since 1977. He studied physics and philosophy at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Mr. McGeady chairs one of Intel's Research Council committees, which oversees Intel-sponsored University research efforts, and currently serves on the International Review Board for the Institute of Systems Science in Singapore.

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