Introduction to Web X.0 for Issue Voting
From EITLC Wiki
Issue Overview
Web 2.0 refers to a broad range of new and emerging technologies which emphasize the ability of users to customize, interact and collaborate on information.Described by Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Media, "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them." Web 2.0 includes:
- Web services
- RSS and other simple formats for data publishing, including podcasts and other multi-media formats
- Component/Service based software
- Collaboration software
- User Tagging/Social Bookmarking
- Social Networking Sites
- Blogs
- Wikis
- Video-Sharing
- Photo-sharing
- Audio and podcasting
- Virtual Worlds
- Mashups
- Widgets
- Webinars/Webcasts
- Social News sites
Opportunity Space/Problem Statement
"On the whole, the US federal government has been slow take advantage of Web 2.0 approaches and tools. The US EPA has experimented with a limited set of these tools, and leaders within the agency have started to recognize the potential that these approaches may have in our workplace and in fulfilling EPA’s mission. In many cases, the obstacles that have prevented the use of these tools include policy and technical barriers, or lack of Web 2.0 literacy." (EPA Web 2.0 Whitepaper)
In 2008, EPA's Office of Environmental Information began a "National Dialgoue" in which it met with environmental information users in the US to better understand their information needs. Findings and recommendations from this process were included in an Information Access Strategy, which found that "most of the National Dialogue respondents are not active users of cutting-edge Web technologies. They tend to access environmental information in more conventional formats, including electronic (e.g. Web pages, spreadsheets, databases) and print formats. They are not frequent users of newer Web-based technologies (e.g. blogs, RSS feeds, Wikis). Nevertheless, there is evidence of a growing interest in these technologies. As described above, some EPA Web site visitors use or have expressed interest in using Internet subscription feeds to obtain up-to-date information on environmental topics of interest. In addition, some respondents indicated an interest in using other Internet tools, but their specific needs for these technologies were highly variable. While there was concern about the quality of information on shared and open information sites, participants felt these tools might be appropriate for collaborative work."
Potential Next Steps or Solutions for EITLC Consideration
With the growing demand for Web 2.0 technology, how can the environmental information community best leverage existing infrastructure and implement new technologies?
The Information Access Strategy recommends that new Web technologies be used "to empower people to find, understand and use environmental information and data. Three kinds of new Web technology are revolutionizing the delivery of information, data, and collaborative support."
- "Push technologies provide rapid, electronic notification and delivery of up-to-date information to subscribers based upon their personal preferences for timing, content, and format."
- "Web publishing simplifies the uploading of raw data to the Internet in a flexible format that allows anyone to download it to their own computers, analyze, and redistribute it to others."
- "Collaborative technologies, such as Web wikis and blogs, can connect people with shared interests in finding, understanding, and using environmental information."
