ROUND TABLE:
Micro Edition EC
RatifiedBy John Bacon
Anthony Scian, Research in Motion
RIM's representative is Anthony Scian, who is involved in the tools and VM
group responsible for providing Java environment on the latest RIM wireless
email devices. RIM is the manufacturer and software supplier for the
BlackBerry email solution. The company sees the ECs as an important part of
"leveling the playing field" in the Java
world, Scian says. And he says that another term for RIM will help provide
vital continuity on the EC, important for longer-term priorities like the
JSPA and JSR trademark issues.
"RIM's commitment to Java is for the long-term and, as such, our involvement
in the EC is important for our standing in the Java community," he says. The
early years of Java and the JCP were Sun-centric, he says, but the system is
evolving to
a more distributed community process. "Sun deserves praise for its support
of this initiative," Scian says.
He says it is important in these
challenging economic times for IT departments to realize that, by signing up
as observers, they can use the JCP program as a way to keep abreast of the
latest Java technology. And he notes that contributions can be made by any
JCP member via community and public reviews.
"Membership in an Expert Group
or becoming a spec lead are also ways a person can participate directly in
the evolution of Java," Scian says. "This provides a wide spectrum of
opportunity for a JCP member to give and take as little or as much as their
corporate environment allows. This flexibility is important as economic times
change."
As for the future, Scian says that the J2ME is past the early stages
of organization and growth. "Now we should see vast improvements in the
Java Development Environments for small devices. This will lead to growth
in the J2ME developer community and the proliferation of innovative Java
J2ME applications," he says.
Ron Workman, Insignia Solutions
Insignia Solutions is represented by Ronald Workman, senior vice president of
marketing. Insignia is a leading provider of accelerated Java software
solutions that dynamically optimize the use of available system resources.
The Jeode platform enables accelerated Java functionality on information
appliances. In addition to the day-to-day business of marketing and evolving
Insignia's Jeode product line, Workman is responsible for identifying and
nurturing strategic business opportunities and analyzing industry and market
trends. Returning to the EC is important for Insignia, he says.
"We have a
responsibility to our user community to ensure proper development of various
Java technology standards such as CDC and Foundation Profile, as well as to Insignia and
its shareholders to ensure sustained market growth based on the evolution and
adoption of new embedded Java technologies," Workman says.
He emphasizes that
the goal of the JCP program is to define standard Java environments and APIs
for a range of computing devices. "By leveraging these standards, IT
departments get the benefits of many industry experts contributing to the
standardization process," Workman said. "And applications developed to these
standards will be assured of the greatest platform support, a
Java-knowledgeable IT workforce, and long-term application maintainability."
In addition to serving on the EC, Insignia participates in various Java
expert groups, such as MID next generation and CLDC next generation, that are
formed to define the various JSRs that are relevant to Insignia markets.
Yuji Kohga, Sony
Sony is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications and
information technology products.
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