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The Internet. History of the Net. 1982 – Internet protocol TCP/IP established from predecessor NCP 1983 – The Internet is made from it’s predecessor ARPANET 1989 – Tim Berners-Lee at CERN invents the World Wide Web 1994 – Mosiac software Netscape Navigator 1995 – Sun launches Java.
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History of the Net • 1982 – Internet protocol TCP/IP established from predecessor NCP • 1983 – The Internet is made from it’s predecessor ARPANET • 1989 – Tim Berners-Lee at CERN invents the World Wide Web • 1994 – Mosiac software Netscape Navigator • 1995 – Sun launches Java. • 1996 – JavaScript launched by Netscape + Sun
World Wide Web • The most important protocol of the Internet More and more business is moving to the Web. It is the preferred medium for E-business • Web content spreading onto mobile devices, such as phones and pocket PCs.
Web content • HTTP is the protocol of the web. Web content is predominantly in HTML plus ancillary languages (JavaScript, CSS, XML, etc.) • Dynamic HTML = HTML + CSS + Scripts Plug-ins: Flash, Shockwave, etc. Server-scripts:CGI, ASP, etc.
Website development • Preproduction planning is crucial for success. One of the first steps is to decide a goal for the website, and to set a budget to reach that goal • Web sites should in principle be cross-browser compatible, unless the target audience is an internal Intranet only.
Intranet • An intranet is a website created for the internal use of an organisation for communication among employees. • It uses the same technologies as the public Internet but is accessible only to authorized staff. • Web technogies are cheap: Intranets are much less expensive to build than private networks and provide a tool for keeping employees informed.
Intranet contents • HR procedures and policies, orientation and training, code of conduct, etc. • Safety handbook of the organisation • Quality handbook of the organisation • Technical support from IT Dept • A company 'library' of electronic books that the company has licence to use • General: Phone book, internal job postings, news, etc. • An intranet can also facilitate the exchange of information and sharing of resources between member of a workgroup or project.
Advantages of Web use in construction: • Easily connect globally to a vast amount of data • Enhanced coordination and communication • Promotion and marketing for the company • The web as a collaboration toolthrough project-specific web sites. • Development tools relatively simple
Project websites Due to new technologies information overload is a problem in any project environment, and this applies also to the typical construction project. Studies suggest that information transmitted on a typical project is overloading design and construction professionals with a sea of paperwork. A large part of the information is pushed to collegues on a "just-in-case-they-need-it" basis. E-mail, fax, mobile phones and even a photocopy machine have created an environment of excessive information ‘push’.
Project websites • Alternative to ‘information push’ is ‘information pull’. Necessary information (which may be hard to find) is available on the project web site • Information pull can avoid information overload • A PSWS can be a step towards an integrated construction; all parties can log on, share and search information • It can also be a step towards knowledge management in the organisation, experience learned from projects are stored
Project website (example) Daily site records Entry page Schedule & progress Specs & drawings
Project website The stages covered by web-based project management software can be categorized into the following : • Tender Stage • Design and Construction Stage - projectinformation exchange • Trading (e-business/commerce)
Project website Successful implementation of Web-based tools not only requires a state of readiness within one organization, but within all those involved in this process. In order for the construction industry to successfully embrace Web-enabled project management tools, at a large scale, it must equally consider technology, process and people.
XML • HTML has predefined tags. In XML (eXtensible Markup Language) the vocabulary of tags is freely extensible • XML has much wider scope than HTML • It is generally accepted as the future carrier of web content and already the carrier for e-business protocols.
XML XML content can be converted to HTML by a style sheet (XLS), but XML is not limited to Web browsers
XML & e-business • Business-to-Business (B2B). An agreement of XML tag semantics allow for an e-business protocol. Uses include electronic trading, electronic tendering, online bidding, online request for quotations, electronic information exchange, online project management, virtual enterprises, electronic banking. • Business-to-Consumer (B2C): includes online retailing, online consulting, online real state, online servicing, and online training. • Intra-organizational: includes enterprise workflow, co-operative design over the network, managing and sharing documents and drawings, online meetings.
E-business • A B2B e-business standard, in general, involves the description of the message formats exchanged (e.g. purchase order), transport protocols (e.g. HTTP), the sequencing (e.g. after sending a purchase order message, an acknowledgement message must be received), the process (e.g. after a purchase order is accepted, the goods must be delivered to the buyer), and the security to be provided (like encryption, non-repudiation).
Mobile Internet • The fastest growing method of web browsing is through wireless, handheld devices • The 'mobile revolution' is about convergence of technologies: computing + Internet technologies + networking + telecommunications.
Mobile devices Mobile Phones Extremely mobile GPRS phones are available, but they have very small WAP screens with few lines and simple graphics – too small for effective use of data applications. Relatively low functionality software.
Mobile devices Smartphones Integrated GSM/GPRS phone and PDA organiser. Larger screen (e.g. 160x160 pixels or more) suitable for e-mail, limited web browsing and small versions of office applications
Mobile devices Pocket PCs Fast 32-bit processors and 64+ MB memory run powerful programs, better display e.g. 16-bit colour in 240 by 320 pixels or more. Integrated wireless networking is restricted to Bluetooth, but add-ons for WLAN are available as plug-in cards
Mobility: Possibilities to bring IT onto construction sites Camera plug-in Large screen for easy entry and viewing of data Autodesk OnSite WLAN connection card (later GPRS / UMTS?)
Appendix: i-mode • i-modeTM, the system created by Japanese cellular operator NTT DoCoMo has acquired +30 million users (Mid 2002) in Japan alone, having started in 1999. • In Europe i-mode is marketed by e.g. E-plus (Germany, owned by Dutch KPN) • To create web pages for the i-mode system, developers have to employ a special subset of HTML known as compact HTML (cHTML), which includes some extra tags.
WAP and i-mode • WAP language WML forms a subset of XML. The data only has to be created once (in XML) and can then fed to both WAP servers and HTML based Web servers. With i-mode to achieve the same result one must create two separate sets of data (XML & cHTML) • i-mode supports colour graphics, WAP does not • i-mode is proprietary technology whereas WAP is the result of co-operation between the handset vendors and the software industry in the WAP Forum • WAP is relative failure; i-mode is a big success with private consumers