On the Net

with Chris Goh

Making information work for you

The first foray into the Information Highway led to the commercialisation of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and with the Dot Com craze ISPs seemed like they were everywhere. In the height of this craze, the head of Oracle, Larry Ellison, made the bold claim that Network Computers (NC) would take over the conventional computer desktop and a new era of service providers, ASP (Application Service Provider) would come into being. ASPs didn't dominate the world but they did make small in roads into the business world as it became outsourcing mad, whereas the licensing world didn't provide the economies of scale nor the growing cheaper PCs to make ASP an economical alternative. Where ASPs did thrive was in the niche market of specialised software, much like in the vein of Howard Hughes, who made his fortune on renting his father's patented drill bit instead of selling them to oil companies to drill for oil, ASPs gained revenue in renting out their specialised applications. That is why the CEO for Oracle was so enthused and wanted businesses to embrace software renting.

However, there is a quiet evolution going on that was inevitable in this Information Age. There is now a definitive requirement for organisations to evolve that information into knowledge that can be applied for the benefit of the organisation. In high school you're taught that one of the critical elements to perfect competition is perfect knowledge, and now, ever so slowly, organisations are looking for Knowledge Service Providers (KSPs). We're not talking of an online encyclopedia or even an application that can provide you with real-time data of the Stock Exchange, we're talking about a provider that can collect all your information inputs and prioritise your organisation's data into a personalised dashboard that can empower your organisation to make informed decisions.

A classic example of this is the company Thoughtweb, who was recently asked to assist the Pacific Disaster Centre (PDC) to somehow organise the information of some 240 agencies involved in the disaster relief in the Boxing Day tsunami. This knowledge system had to understand what organisations do, where they're located and what resources they had. Within several days, Thoughtweb's patented engine crawled agency databases and resources, presenting a digital dashboard that helped the PDC coordinate disaster relief.

Thoughtweb's system has been used in real time for use in battlefield simulations, to providing real time dashboards for energy agencies who can respond to multiple terrorist threats, and to provide an early warning system so repair crews can prioritise disaster response.

To be a KSP is no easy task, and unlike being an ASP or ISP, a KSP's reputation takes the responsibility of making your information work for you, and that takes a big organisation who says, "I know how to organise your information so you can make better business decisions."

However, that is the next information evolution. With all the information an organisation collects today, making it all work for you is the biggest challenge.

Hotnews

FireFox is continuing to gain allies, with Yahoo launching a Beta Toolbar for the neat web browser, not to mention our new CSIRO, which has launched a new plug-in for the browser called Annodex after failing to make it work successfully with IE. This plug-in allows users to view marked up continuous media formats like audio and video, allowing users to search and get to parts that they're looking for based on meta information a user types in. The CSIRO is making their source code free and call the new Markup language CMML Continuous media Markup Language.

Sometimes you can be too connected and in the House of Commons in the UK, Blackberries have been banned with MPs told that even an attempt to bring the device in will mean the MP will be thrown out.

Students in Brittan Elementary School based in rural California have a new addition to their uniform. They are required to wear electronic identity tags that track their movements around the school. Their ID number is sent to teachers' Pocket PCs when they enter class, and not wearing one could mean getting disciplined. This is the first school in the US to make it mandatory.

Earlier last year there was definitive evidence that showed that Sonar had a direct impact on whale and dolphin beachings. So environmentalists will be scared when a new project called CodaOctopus, which will use an Ethoscope to map the see bed, will be used at sea.

Where Sonar uses one beam, this scope uses 16,000 beams to give an almost 3D real time Virtual map. A significant technological step, but what effect will it have on our marine cousins?

Hotsites

www.goaskalice.columbia.edu

Columbia University has run Go Ask Alice for a number of years, and it has one a number of accolades. This site allows people to ask about health advice and look at other anonymous postings. A note for parents that a lot of the questions asked by persons are sexually orientated and aimed towards teenagers and above, but nonetheless is an excellent and brave program that deserves applauding as the questions that are answered on the site are very relevant to today's youth health issues and parents who have to tackle these issues with their children.

www.bookwire.com/bookwire

Anyone who has ever tried to get their first book published has probably no doubt had many doors closed to them. Bookwire doesn't guarantee that it will be any easier, but this site has extensive links of publishers, agents, booksellers and more.

www.epicurious.com

Epicurious claims to be the largest recipe database on the internet. Though I cannot substantiate their claim its range of recipes is huge, from the simple and the gourmet to some out of this world dishes. Check it out.