The introduction of a new technology is not dissimilar to the discovery of a new continent: it both expands our view of the world and provides an invitation to explorers and settlers. The World Wide Web is a perfect example.
Now part of the everyday life of institutions, government organizations and businesses of all kinds, as well as millions of casual surfers, the Web has opened up a vista of unparalleled access to information. But the task of building tools to allow access to the precise information one needs, in the form and at the time it is needed, is still not finished. Our customers need the ability to share information with business partners, colleagues, and teachers in a controlled way.
This is a multidimensional challenge, and one that will continue to evolve along many fronts. IBM Research needs to be at the forefront of that evolution. Numerous projects - some described in this issue of Research magazine - are currently underway.
Inevitably, some will begin with very specific solutions in mind and then gradually grow more general. Others will start with a broad framework that can then be specialized, depending on the needs of the customer. But all must face a common difficulty: namely, matching the information bandwidth of an individual human being with the vast resources of a networked world.
As we move forward into this new continent of knowledge, services and - inevitably - unwanted "noise" and security threats, we can expect to be surprised, but we should not be overwhelmed. We need to develop technologies that will allow our customers to securely send and receive data between any points of the Net and guide them through the thickets of URLs and the information they harbor.
Technologies that can search out, summarize, translate, filter and deliver just-in-time, personalized information are rapidly
becoming indispensable. Soon, we will see the emergence of
an economic order in which autonomous agents negotiate on our behalf for information. The implications are staggering, and their consequences are still unknown. These are all subjects of intense interest and investigation within IBM Research. Our goal in pursuing them is to help ensure that network computing moves us toward a global village rather than toward an unmanageable metropolis.
Paul M. Horn
senior vice president
Research
