Web 2.0 requires "intelligent" networks

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Intelligent networks that sense where a user is and how they are connecting will form the basis of future web 2.0 applications, according to Cisco.

Speaking at the Cisco Networkers conference in Cannes, Phil Dean, Architectures marketing manager at Cisco said that the network as a platform forms the "basis for what web 2.0 is really all about."

"But it is more than just connectivity; we talk about intelligent networking, the concept that the network has intelligence embedded within it," said Dean. "People need to collaborate, they need to access information from different devices from different locations such as the home or office. And these can use different access method, DSL, Ethernet or wireless."

He said that in future, networks have to recognise these different locations, people, formats and devices and present information to them in a consistent manner.

"One of the key things about web 2.0 is consistency. It is enabling people to have this common, consistent experience wherever they happen to be," said Dean.

He said that for web 2.0 services and applications to be implemented properly the applications have to accept connections to different people and devices. "It has to be open and that becomes really important."

He said that there wasn't a great deal of difference between web 2.0 and service oriented architecture.

"They are essentially very similar things, said Dean. "We have seen web 2.0 come from the consumer end and head towards the business end. It has been driven from consumers and in turn this is driving expectations and requirements within the companies they work for."

Dean added that service oriented architectures are coming from the business end and are about sharing applications and creating new services based on recombining software elements in new and innovative ways.

"The mashup scenario in web 2.0 is very similar what is happening in SOA."

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