Read Sun's Take on "Open AJAX"– Tim Bray Speaks Out

IBM is leading, but apparently not controlling, a bold initiative known as "Open AJAX" that brings this open-source application development approach to the forefront of the worldwide i-technology industry.

The Open AJAX initiative does not have a centralized structure or website, but is rather an idea that is being formally backed by BEA, Borland, the Dojo Foundation, the Eclipse Foundation, Laszlo Systems, Mozilla Corporation, Novell, Openwave Systems, Oracle, Red Hat, Yahoo, Zend and Zimbra. A spokesperson for one of the major backers said that Google will also be backing this initiative.

Exclusive SYS-CON.TV Interviews on "Open AJAX" Announcement

IBM's David Boloker Announcing Open AJAX
Oracle Exec Ted Farrell Outlines Oracle Open AJAX Strategy
Sun's Dan Roberts Discusses Java Studio Creator 2, Open AJAX
Laszlo Systems Founder and CTO David Temkin
Eclipse Foundation's Mike Milinkovich Discusses Open AJAX
Zimbra's Scott Dietzen Welcomes Open AJAX
Novell's Charlie Ungashick Discusses Open AJAX, Open SUSE

The initiative arose from about six months of "discussions, meetings at conferences, and wikis" according to David Boloker (pictured), IBM Software Group's CTO of Emerging Internet Technologies. Boloker was acknowledged as a key voice and driver of this initiative by executives from several other companies involved, with one exec describing him as "the real thing" in his commitment to open-source development and its potential as a legitimate enterprise IT application development approach.

Boloker reminded us that "IBM has been working in this space for many, many years," and made the observation that over the years "we've seen the Web moving from a publishing paradigm to an e-business paradigm (and now) to an AJAX paradigm."

IBM's official release states that this initiative aims to "drive collaboration (to) simplify the browsing experience, and make it easier for users to shop, work, plan, correspond and navigate online." Executives at  several Open AJAX backers agreed, telling us that development of powerful Web 2.0 applications that offer ease-of-use are a key goal of this effort. They also agreed that developers seeking to learn about Open AJAX will have multiple entry points, that they should contact any or all of the initiative's backers to learn what they need to learn specifically about it.

The coalition members say they "intend to promote Ajax's promise of universal compatibility with any computer device, application, desktop or operating system, and easy incorporation into new and existing software programs."  They  pointed out a number of key capabilities that AJAX provides, including: