IAB Technical Plenary

IETF 80, Monday, March 28, 2011, 
1630-1930 Technical Plenary - Congress Hall I/II/III

16:30:
1.  Welcome

2.  IRTF Chair's Report - Aaron Falk

3.  IAB Chair's Report - Olaf Kolkman

17:15:
4.  Technical Session: 
    "The Future of Applications"
    Panel session moderated by Jon Peterson
    Speakers:
    Jonathan Rosenberg (Skype)
    Harald Alvestrand (Google)
    Henry S. Thompson (W3C)
    Possibly more

19:00
6.  IAB Open Microphone Session

19:30 Adjourn




The Future of Applications


Advancements in the design of web browsers have introduced fundamental
changes to the architecture of application protocols. The widespread
availability and growing sophistication of JavaScript interpreters in
browsers enables web servers to push to browsers all of the
application logic required to implement a client-server
protocol. Consequently, many client-server applications that once
required an installed client on a host computer now can rely simply on
a modern browser to act as a client for the purposes of a particular
application. For example, where once email clients required a custom
application to access an inbox, increasingly a web browser can serve
this purpose as well as the purpose-built applications of the
past. Similarly, HTTP with the assistance of JavaScript can subsume
the functions performed by the protocols like POP3 and IMAP. The need
for Internet standards beyond HTTP to implement an email inbox
application consequently diminishes - why author standards and worry
about interoperability of clients and servers when the server can
simply push to the client all the code it needs to be interoperable?

Many client-server applications on the Internet could potential
migrate to this post-standardization environment. In this environment,
there is of course still a role for the IETF to play: existing working
groups like HyBi and OAuth are examples of areas where standards work
is still required to support this application development
paradigm. Collectively, we need to identify areas where the
standardization is unlikely to be relevant in the future, and focus
our efforts on those areas where our application designs will remain
impactful. The goals of this session are to explore future areas of
IETF work surrounding this evolution. 

Speakers: Jonathan Rosenberg (Skype) Harald Alvestrand (Google) Henry
S. Thompson (W3C)