We are happy to announce a WikiSym 2008 panel on end-user programming with application wikis. Panelists will be Ludovic Dubost, Stewart Nickolas, and Peter Thoeny, and of course you, readers of this blog and participants at WikiSym, as we are hoping to make this as engaging as possible. Please let us know what questions we should ask the panelists by commenting on this blog entry or by asking them in person at WikiSym 2008!

ABSTRACT

Wikis empower users to collaborate with each other using prose. Users imprint data structures and processes onto wiki pages using social and technical conventions. Application wikis enhance wiki engines with lightweight programming features that aid in making data structures and processes explicit. Using these features, end-users can program a wiki to better support them in their collaborative processes and integrate their work into the overall IT infrastructure. Application wikis make database access and business process integration easy from within the wiki while maintaining the wiki-style of collaborative work. The panelists of this panel, together with the audience and the moderator, will review existing work and explore future research directions in application wikis.

About the Panelists

Ludovic Dubost (Panelist): After graduating from the French Polytechnic School (X90) and Telecom Paris, Ludovic Dubost started his career as a software architect at Netscape Communications Europe, moving on to a position as CTO of one of the first French startups to launch an IPO on the Paris stock-exchange, NetValue. After NetValue was purchased by Nielsen//NetRatings, Ludovic moved on to launch XWiki in November of 2003. XWiki pioneered the application wiki space by being the first wiki to provide a scripting language right in the wiki pages, allowing to build complex applications using the wiki concept.

Stewart Nickolas (Panelist): Stewart Nickolas is a Distinguished Engineer in the Emerging Internet Technologies Group within IBM. Stew’s recent responsibilities include chairing the OpenAjax Gadget Taskforce, leading the QEDWiki project within IBM, defining and shaping IBM’s Web 2.0 and Situational Application strategies. The Gadgets Taskforce is focused on defining a shared set of metadata that provides seamless integration among the gadgets providers and consumers. Stew has also spearheaded IBM’s technical strategy and implementation in the emerging area of Web 2.0 Enterprise Mashup Makers. Additionally Stew works with customers to validate new technologies and with IBM product teams to develop the appropriate products. Stew has been recognized by IBM with Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards in the area of Situational Applications and Rich Internet Applications.

Peter Thoeny (Panelist): Peter Thoeny is the founder of TWiki and has managed the open-sourced TWiki.org project for the last ten years. Peter invented the concept of structured wikis—where free form wiki content can be structured with tailored wiki applications. He is the CTO of TWIKI.NET, a company offering enterprise Web 2.0 solutions that help revolutionize collaboration and enhance productivity at the workplace. Peter is a recognized thought-leader in wikis and social software, featured in numerous articles and technology conferences including Linux World, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal and more. A software developer with over 20 years experience, Peter specializes in software architecture, user inter-face design and web technology.

Dirk Riehle (Moderator): Dirk Riehle leads the Open Source Research Group at SAP Labs in Palo Alto, California (Silicon Valley). Before this, he was the co-founder of an on-demand business software startup in Berlin, Germany, which used agile methods and strategically employed open source software. A fan of wikis since their inception, Dirk started the Wiki Symposium, a conference dedicated to wiki research and practice. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from ETH Zurich and an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School. He welcomes email at dirk@riehle.org and blogs at www.riehle.org.