Information accessibility

The previous post concluded that there is a huge amount of data and that quality of the data is crucial. To extend the understanding of the smarter search, you can read a very comprehensive article located at: http://javelina.cet.middlebury.edu/lsa/out/lsa_intro.htm. The internet of things and the ubiquitous manner of networks is the answer for the data gathering and consumption. There is currently an extensive work around the creation of an adequate infrastructure for a connected reality with huge amount of connected elements. When we analyze the different components in the always-connected network we find RFID technology as a basic component. RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is actually not a new technology but there is hype around it and this hype drives this technology forward. EPC (Electronic Product Code) Global (http://www.epcglobalinc.org/) takes the technology of assigning every product an ID to the industry. The goal is to make everything with unique ID that can provide data of type, history, serial number and more. This will serve to optimize the supply chain and allow the ability to track specific items and handle them in every level of the supply chain from assembling to disposal. In the category of identification and applications of short-range wireless there are the NFC (Near Field Communications) and Felica. NFC is a consortium that combines consumer electronics, telecommunications, and credit companies. The first application of the technology was a smart wallet but there are many more applications under development using this technology. Sony which is a member of the NFC consortium created the Felica technology (http://www.sony.net/Products/felica/contents02.html ) to support the need for a contactless technology. NTT DoCoMo uses Felica in a mobile wallet application (http://www.nttdocomo.com/corebiz/imode/services/felica.html). Short-range wireless technologies also include the Bluetooth, ZigBee, WiFi, UWB (Ultra Wide Band) and some other technologies that provide communication means between devices and sensors to create a private network in different speeds and purposes. Alongside these technologies we have the cellular technologies and several other technologies like MobileFi, WiMax, WiBro, and more.
Enough technologies were mentioned and there are many more technologies that provide us the ability to access different kinds of information from different places for different purposes. The complexity of networks and the semantic meaning of networks make networks act not just as a mean to get the information but also as a piece of information. The topography of a network determines its meaning, its capabilities and the different roles of the components in the network. Changing the network is changing components’ meaning. The area of mobility and connectivity is the obvious evolution of the world we live in. If we can access information, why should we be limited to our location? A true convergence of technologies mean we could access any information from any place at any time through whatever network. The concept of software radio demonstrates the true convergence where we use the same antenna and software to access several different networks to retrieve the needed information. All the technical side and the networks selection are done automatically in the device itself and it should be seamless to the consumer. As information consumers we only care how fast we get the information and what is the presentation quality. The handover between the networks, and the detection of the optimized combination of networks should be done without any intervention of the user. Data transport and accessibility will continue to evolve and will keep our consumer behavior of replacing terminals to support the new standards. I will write much more about information accessibility because it has a great impact on the way we experience the technology. A connected environment (not wired anymore) is the next step towards the next paradigm.