This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the challenges presented by increasing mobile device use in enterprises. These mobile devices are managed by employees, contain personal data, and use diverse hardware and software systems. The company developed a new web browser, which they built from the ground up specifically for mobile devices. The company's mission is to use their browser as a platform for enterprise developers to build and deploy cross-platform enterprise-class mobile web apps. The fundamental question this research will answer is whether a browser can be a suitable platform for hosting enterprise mobile apps. As such, this research has three primary objectives. (1) Advance the state-of-the-art in mobile web app design methodology by developing new abstractions, such as web push and background execution, that enable mobile web apps to access native features in a platform independent way. (2) Develop a system that encapsulates enterprise mobile web apps and data securely, with management functions to enable information technology (IT) staff to manage enterprise apps, data, and users. (3) Implement advanced debugging tools for web app developers.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is in enabling enterprises to use mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, in the workplace to access company apps and data securely. Although mobile devices provide workers with ubiquitous access to enterprise apps and data, employees often use these mobile devices for work and in their personal lives. The company's technology provides a mechanism to encapsulate enterprise apps and data and to keep enterprise data separate from personal data. Overall the proposed technology makes it easier and more cost effective for enterprise developers to write pure HTML5 apps that run on a diverse set of mobile devices, gives users the freedom to use mobile devices for both work and for personal use, and provides IT administrators with complete control over enterprise apps and data. International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that the market segment the company operates in - mobile enterprise app platforms - will reach $3 billion by 2015. By providing fundamental advances in mobile web browsers, development tools, and application services.
