Fw: Dublin workshop on web authoring

The W3C "Declarative Models of Distributed Web Applications" folks would 
very much like to have some participation from our community. 

----- Forwarded by Mary Ellen Zurko/Westford/IBM on 04/26/2007 08:40 AM 
-----

Dave Raggett <dsr@w3.org> 
04/26/2007 08:16 AM

To
Mary Ellen Zurko <Mary_Ellen_Zurko@notesdev.ibm.com>
cc
rotan.hanrahan@mobileaware.com
Subject
Re: Dublin workshop on web authoring








If you are planning or willing to stay over in Dublin for a
few days after the Web Security Context face to face, you are
very much welcome to come along to the Dublin workshop on
Declarative Models of Distributed Web Applications, where we
would very much value your contribution to discussions on
security and usability. Usable security will be critical
to the success of Web applications involving richer access
to device apabilities and services, particularly for new
kinds of devices, whether in the home, office, mobile or
automotive areas.

The experience with today's Web pages shows that burdening
the use with having to remember and type user names and
passwords for a myriad of sites is open to abuse. We need
solutions that are easier on the user, and which don't rely
on the user being present. That is important for applications
acting as agents on the user's behalf and running at all
times of day and night, even when the user is away from
home.

Perhaps SIM cards have a role to play in this? Even when the
user granted permission in a previous session, how do we know
that the context is the same? How usable really are solutions
where the carrier or similar signs the application?  Your
assistance in framing the problem will be much appreciated.
A backgrounder is given below along with details on where
to send your statement of interest and logistical details
on the workshop location and hotels.

Dublin workshop on web authoring:

W3C is holding a workshop in Dublin, Ireland on 5-6 June on
web authoring techniques that reduce the need for scripting
through the use of modeling techniques. We hope to tap into
the academic research work on user interface and application
modeling, and the potential for describing applications from
an end to end perspective, rather than just the pieces that
are downloaded to a particular browser.

On the desktop, developers need to contend with several
different versions of several different browsers, each with
different levels of support and different bugs. The situation
is very much worse for mobile devices and this presents real
challenges to developing and delivering web applications with
limited budgets.

In principle, this can be addressed by describing applications
at a level that is decoupled from the details of specific
devices, and the use of policies that separately describe how
to adapt the presentation and behavior to match these devices.
W3C has made some steps in this direction with work on device
independent authoring languages, device descriptions and the
means to select markup or style rules according to the context.
However, there is plenty of potential for markup languages that
describe applications at a level that includes both client and
server, e.g. based upon event-driven state models.

As more and more devices are gaining some kind of networking
capability, there is an opportunity to apply web technologies
to describing multi-device applications, e.g. using a digital
TV or mobile handset to access and control household appliances,
home entertainment, security and surveillance systems. What
kinds of models are appropriate for such distributed web
applications?

When it comes to access to device capabilities and services,
what kinds of security models are appropriate and how can
these be made sufficiently usable to work in practice?
Examples include access from within a web browser to the
device's built-in camera, or the means to remotely unlock
the front door of a building. The Semantic Web would seem to
offer promising techniques for descriptions of devices and
services as a basis for discovery, and policies for access
control.

The Web is still in its early days and there remain significant
challenges for improving the way in which we author Web
applications, however these also represent huge opportunities.
W3C welcomes you to come to Dublin, the capital of Ireland
and the epicenter for Guiness lovers everywhere, to participate
in the workshop on declarative models of distributed web
applications. If you are interested in participating, please
send us a brief statement of interest to
team-ubiwebws-submit@w3.org

Further details can be found at:

    http://www.w3.org/2007/02/dmdwa-ws/

  Dave Raggett <dsr@w3.org> http://www.w3.org/People/Raggett