Web 2.0 for E-Science Environments

We examine the potential impact of Web 2.0 approaches to e-science and Grid computing. We provide an analysis of Web service and Grid computing core concepts, which we then map to corresponding concepts in Web 2.0 systems. As we show, Web 2.0, taken collectively, must be viewed as a comprehensive distributed computing approach. We then examine social bookmarking and tagging as an exemplary Web 2.0 service. Tagged bookmarks can be used to build up keyword-based profiles that can be used in collaborator matchmaking services. To be professionally useful to researchers and faculty, these tools need to provide interfaces to scholarly articles for bookmarking. This introduces another level of Web 2.0 service, the semantic research grid, which we overview. We conclude with a discussion of the need for building hybrid Web Service/Web 2.0 systems.