1999-12-20
The advent of World Wide Web- and Internet-capable mobile devices opens possibilities for completely new classes of applications that can exploit information about the geographical position of the mobile device as well as the position of various services, events and phenomena. These new applications would not necessarily make much sense on traditional platforms used for accessing the World Wide Web. Examples of these new applications would include
A workshop like this is a vehicle of establishing and improving communication between organizations and companies whose interest in position dependent information is very different. All the experience that is brought to the table can enhance our understanding of the subject matter in ways perhaps not possible if only viewed from (say) mobile phone perspective. The joint event between the W3C and the WAP Forum will also guarantee that necessary expertise from both the web standards viewpoint and the mobile technologies viewpoint is acknowledged.
In general, it is our expectation that this workshop would make it possible for the W3C to (in the future) comment on the ongoing position dependent information work at the WAP Forum, enhancing the "web compliance" of the emerging standards. Specific activities resulting from this workshop could include (but are certainly not limited to) a discussion of the specific needs of the mobile environment for a 'position-dependent information' solution and how these needs could be addressed by both consortia.