Date: September 2, 2009
Time: 16:30 - 18:00

Panel Chair: Alexander Wahler | STI International

Panelists: Dr. Udo Bub | Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, Christian Braukmann | salesforce.com, Prof. Dr. Rudi Studer | University of Karlsruhe, Helmut Hoffer von Ankershoffen | neofonie GmbH

"Cloud Computing - What's new?, Why all the fuss?"

For some, we are on the cusp of a radical revolution in enterprise computing, while for others, cloud computing is either a big hype or a big mistake. The Internet's ubiquity, available broadband and falling costs in digital storage and processing is leading to a shift from in-house installation and maintenance of complex IT systems into a computing capacity "cloud" where access is simple and usage is metered. However, moving data into the cloud leaves it in others' hands and raises new challenges on dependability and security. 

Semantic technologies placed in the cloud offer the prospect of scalable interoperability and reasoning, creating new, cross-enterprise usage scenarios, provided issues of privacy and trust can be resolved.

So is cloud computing the panacea for all of our in-house IT ills, or a short-lived trend before we take back our data into secure, dependable local systems? Can semantics make cloud computing into a powerful new paradigm for scalable intelligent applications, and how will this change how we do business? Will we put our critical data and processes into the cloud, and how can we trust that the cloud will not fail us?

This panel session will chart a path between idealistic optimism and unnecessary pessimism, and seek to identify the added value of cloud computing while casting off the hype, considering how semantic technologies can play an important role in ensuring the uptake and full potential of this future IT paradigm.