The official Web site
for the World Summit on Sustainable Development has been subjected to a number of "significant attacks" since its launch a couple of weeks ago, but the security remains intact, says Clive Smith, HP World Summit project leader.
Smith deliberately underplays the security of the site, however, saying he prefers not to invite attackers to the site.
He says the site, which is being run using HP-developed technology, has seen a significant increase in traffic since its launch two weeks ago. Traffic in the second week of the site`s existence increased by 379% over the first week. While he is unable to give specific figures on page impressions, indications are that traffic on the site is nowhere near the predicted 100 million page views predicted at its launch.
David Shapshak, managing editor of the site, says around 800 hits per hour were recorded on the site at one point over the weekend but traffic picked up significantly yesterday.
Shapshak heads a team of 12 editorial staff tasked with keeping the site up to date with news and photographs between 7am and 10pm. That process is flowing well, he says, and he has no concern about possible attacks.
"We have been guaranteed serious security and serious scalability," he says.
Smith rejects using page impressions as a metric of the success of the site. "This is more about who is coming to the site and why they are coming to the site, than about the number of visitors. Our aim is to be the best and most comprehensive source of summit information, and we are doing that."
A browse through the site, in particular the events calendar, highlights a number of examples of missing information. In most cases this relates to venues and details of the many events listed. Smith says the missing information is a result of incomplete information supplied to the site administrators by the various organisers. "We are not the sources of information. We are merely building the databases and administering the site."
He adds that the site is "not just a diary of events" and that it is just one of many sources of information for participants.
According to Smith, the site offers more than just current delegate information. "This is part of the summit legacy project. Look at Rio - there is very little information still available on that summit. What this site captures is the look and feel of this moment, what it is like to be in Johannesburg at this time. The archiving aspect of the project is something that many people don`t think about and it is a very important one."
The official website for the World Summit on Sustainable Development is at http://www.joburgsummit2002.com/
Related stories:
Summit IT passes first test
Share
