Rich Internet Applications (RIA) are a cross between web applications and traditional desktop applications, transferring some of the processing to the client end.

RIA's typically:

• run in a web browser, or do not require software installation.
• run locally in a secure environment called a sandbox
• can be"occasionally connected" wandering in and out of hot-spots or from office to office

The term"Rich Internet Application" was introduced in a Macromedia whitepaper in March 2002, though the concept had been around for a number of years before that under different names such as:

• Remote Scripting, by Microsoft, circa 1998
• X Internet, by Forrester Research in October 2000
• Webtop, coined by Hummingbird Ltd for their DM WebServer product in February 2002,
• Athletic client, coined by Scott Shattuck, a software architect for Technical Pursuit Inc, when describing Client/SOA architectures
• Rich (Web) Clients,
• Rich Web Application