As the Internet and the World-Wide Web see more and newer uses - by individuals, the business, education, and research communities , the need and demand to establish new Internet and Web sites, and to maintain them is growing very rapidly.
In addition, there is a growing demand to develop new capabilities, services, and business models that will work. Chief among them are searching and finding information (and sifting real information from junk), reducing information overload and finding efficient ways to deal with growing amounts of information, protecting users' and enterprises' security and privacy, and digitally converging multi-media channels.
Along with these, many non-technical issues arrise, including legal, moral, social, issues of intellectual property, and others.
In this course we provide the basic understanding and knowledge of how the Internet and the World-wide Web operarte, and the technical knowledge required to establish and maintain an Internet/Web site and to develop and introduce new capabilities and features on such sites. Further, we look at the various (mostly technical, but also non-technical) directions the Internet/Web is taking, and its increasing influence on our day-to-day lives. Finally, we explore future needs and requirements, research and development topics, ideas, and opportunities.
Students in this course will acquire the necessary knowledge, and develop the required skills that will prepare them to be desirable contributors to this amazing revolution.
As a continuation of this course, we are offering 91.514: Internet and Web Systems II. In that course, students will have the opportunity to examine (fewer) topics in more depth, to get involved in research projects, and establish and pursue a longer term research plan and agenda.
This year we are working on increasing the resources available to WebLab, the Internet and Web Systems Research Laboratory, where we will have the opportunity (and freedom) to explore, experiment, and gain some hands-on experience with the hardware and software that makes (components of) the Internet. Students will be able to take turn "running" the lab, establishing and maintaining services, and experimenting with hardware and software.
At the same time, we are in the process of establishing relationships with Internet startups, and other companies with interests and needs in this field, to get the Lab exposed to new, exciting research and development projects. This will be an opportunity to work on real projects, including advanced ones, which might lead to Master's thesis and Doctoral dissertation work.