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The future of search is an expansive topic, and the panel touches on a variety of issues in this wide ranging conversation. Everything from specialized search, industry consolidation and business models to deep web access and the unintended privacy consequences of adding new features. But search is no different than other technology or application development. At the most general level you are faced with a basic causality dilemma in the effort to improve and evolve. Where should the primary effort be focused, on the user or the technology?
Dave Sifry of Technorati makes an argument for applying existing technologies to a new metaphor, a change in point of view for those living on the web. Jim Lanzone of Ask bases many of his comments on the fact that not much has changed over the last 10 years for the typical user, who still wants relevance, speed and ease of use. The user has fallen behind with regard to knowledge of how to search, therefore Ask is focusing on providing simple tools to help the user absorb and utilize the new technologies that have been funded in recent years. Leila Boujnane of Idee and Kapenda Thomas of Jookster are more inclined to approach search from the technology side. They believe that improvement in the complex indexing processes is the way to go when enhancing search for the better.
Despite differing approaches the panelists from Technorati, Ask, Idee and Jukester agree that whatever route you choose the goal is the same, providing the user with the most relevant results in an easy to use format.
Chris Shipley is a founding partner and Global Research Director of Guidewire Group, where she analyzes emerging technology to identify market opportunities and accelerate products to market. Best known as the executive producer of the DEMO Conferences for IDG Executive Forums, Chris has helped technology companies bring over 1,000 new products to market since 1996. Fortune Small Business Magazine placed Chris on its "Top 10 Minds in Small Business," and the San Jose Business Journal named her a "Woman of Distinction." Chris has covered personal technology since 1984 and has worked as a writer and editor for a variety of technology and consumer media. Chris holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Literature and Communication Arts and pursues knowledge and understanding relentlessly.
Kapenda Thomas is founder and CEO of Jookster. He Before founding Jookster Networks, Kapenda founded N3 Technologies to develop emerging technologies in the area of web collaboration and knowledge management. Prior to N3, Kapenda was responsible for Media Syndicator, the first product released from Loudeye Technologies, where he was Lead Software Architect. Previous to Loudeye, Kapenda worked with the Web Based Enterprise Management team at Microsoft, developing proprietary tools and applications for performance in Microsoft's COM+ Services. Kapenda holds a patent in the area of Digital Media Syndication and Distribution as well as several patents pending in the area of Search and Information Retrieval.
Dave Sifry is founder and CEO of Technorati. He is a serial entrepreneur with over 19 years of software development and industry experience. Before founding Technorati, Dave was cofounder and CTO of Sputnik, a Wi-Fi gateway company, and previously, he was cofounder of Linuxcare, where he served as CTO and VP of Engineering. Dave also served as a founding member of the board of Linux International and on the technical advisory board of the National Cybercrime Training Partnership for law enforcement. He has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University.
Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com, is responsible for overseeing world-wide business operations. Ask.com is one of the world's leading search engines, with more than 20 million users per month. Previous to his role as CEO, Lanzone served as senior vice president and general manager of Ask.com US and as vice president of product management. Lanzone also co-founded eTour, an early provider of information retrieval and cost-per-lead services on the Web. Lanzone received his BA from U.C.L.A. and JD/MBA from Emory University.
Leila Boujnane is co-founder and CEO of Idee Inc, the visual search and image monitoring firm. Idee's software uses advanced proprietary pattern recognition and computer vision algorithms to allow users to search very large image collections based on visual appearance. Leila has over a decade of executive leadership experience in the software industry. At Idee she is responsible for all aspects of the company's strategic direction and growth. Leila has been involved in visual search since Idee launched the first visual search application for the stock photography industry in 2001.
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