Computer support for cooperative tasks in Mission Operations Centers

Traditionally, spacecraft management has been performed by fixed teams of operators in Mission Operations Centers. The team cooperatively: (1) ensures that payload(s) on spacecraft perform their work; and (2) maintains the health and safety of the spacecraft through commanding and monitoring the spacecraft's subsystems. In the future, the task demands will increase and overload the operators. This paper describes the traditional spacecraft management environment and describes a new concept in which groupware will be used to create a Virtual Mission Operations Center. Groupware tools will be used to better utilize available resources through increased automation and dynamic sharing of personnel among missions

The Virtual Mission Operations Center

Spacecraft management is becoming more human intensive as spacecraft become more complex and as operations costs are growing accordingly. Several automation approaches have been proposed to lower these costs. However, most of these approaches are not flexible enough in the operations processes and levels of automation that they support. This paper presents a concept called the Virtual Mission Operations Center (VMOC) that provides highly flexible support for dynamic spacecraft management processes and automation. In a VMOC, operations personnel can be shared among missions, the operations team can change personnel and their locations, and automation can be added and removed as appropriate. The VMOC employs a form of on-demand supervisory control called management by exception to free operators from having to actively monitor their system. The VMOC extends management by exception, however, so that distributed, dynamic teams can work together. The VMOC uses work-group computing concepts and groupware tools to provide a team infrastructure, and it employs user agents to allow operators to define and control system automation

A conceptual framework for web-based collaborative design

Although much effort has been invested to build applications that support group work, collaborative applications have not found easy success. The cost of adopting and maintaining collaborative applications has prevented their widespread use, especially among small distributed groups. Application developers have had difficulties recognizing the extra effort required by groups to use collaborative applications and how to either reduce this effort or provide other benefits to compensate for the extra work. These problems have limited the success of collaborative applications, which have not attained the same level of productivity improvements that single user applications have achieved. In this thesis we present a framework that describes the types of computer support that can facilitate the work of distributed engineering design groups. Our framework addresses support for web-based groups in particular because we believe the web can be a powerful medium for collaboration if accommodated properly. We show how the concepts in this framework can be implemented by prototyping a web-based engineering decision support system. Our framework is a synthesis of ideas motivated by an examination of literature in various fields that share a common interest in collaborative work. It can influence application development by helping developers become aware of the types of support should be considered to aid web-based collaborative design

A Framework for Data Sharing in Computer Supported Cooperative Environments

Concurrency control is an indispensable part of any information sharing system. Co-operative work introduces new requirements for concurrency control which cannot be met using existing applications and database management systems developed for non-cooperative environments. The emphasis of concurrency control in conventional database management systems is to keep users and their applications from inadvertently corrupting data rather than support a workgroup develop a product together. This insular approach is necessary because applications that access the database have been built with the assumptions that they have exclusive access to the data they manipulate and that users of these applications are generally oblivious of one another. These assumptions, however, are counter to the premise of cooperative work in which human-human interaction is emphasized among a group of users utilizing multiple applications to jointly accomplish a common goal. Consequently, applying conventional approaches to concurrency control are not only inappropriate for cooperative data sharing but can actually hinder group work. Computer support for cooperative work must therefore adopt a fresh approach to concurrency control which does promote group work as much as possible, but without sacrifice of all ability to guarantee system consistency. This research presents a new framework to support data sharing in computer supported cooperative environments; in particular, product development environments where computer support for cooperation among distributed and diverse product developers is essential to boost productivity. The framework is based on an extensible object-oriented data model, where data are represented as a collection of interrelated objects with ancillary attributes used to facilitate cooperation. The framework offers a flexible model of concurrency control, and provides support for various levels of cooperation among product developers and their applications. In addition, the framework enhances group activity by providing the functionality to implement user mediated consistency and to track the progress of group work. In this dissertation, we present the architecture of the framework; we describe the components of the architecture, their operation, and how they interact together to support cooperative data sharing

Impacto da introdução das ferramentas colaborativas nas organizações fortemente hierarquizadas

Resumo Na presença da recente revolução tecnológica associada às tecnologias de informação e comunicação, e do seu impacto no desenvolvimento e resolução dos novos conflitos, a NATO e as Forças Armadas dos países aliados têm vindo a implementar grandes transformações de natureza organizacional e tecnológica. Na base desta grande mudança estão os novos conceitos e doutrina resultantes do “NATO Network Enabled Capability” adotado pela Aliança. Sendo a colaboração um elemento estruturante onde assenta esta nova doutrina da NATO, a colaboração assistida por computador passou a assumir um destaque especial ao facilitar os processos colaborativos entre comandos, forças e outros elementos, num ambiente caraterizado por uma forte dinâmica de acontecimentos, envolvendo elevados fluxos de informação, em cenários de grande dispersão geográfica. Neste contexto, a NATO e a grande maioria das Forças Armadas dos países aliados têm vindo a implementar, de forma progressiva e consistente, um conjunto alargado de Ferramentas Colaborativas que proporcionam a resposta adequada às necessidades decorrentes desta nova filosofia subjacente ao planeamento e execução das operações militares. Perante a inexistência de uma doutrina aplicacional para implementar e explorar os processos colaborativos nas Forças Armadas portuguesas, este estudo tem por objetivo identificar a tipologia de Ferramentas Colaborativas mais adequada aos processos de planeamento e decisão e os impactos resultantes da sua implementação e exploração. O presente trabalho seguiu a metodologia de investigação de Raymond Quivy e Luc Van Campenhoudt (2003), com recurso ao modelo hipotético-dedutivo. O percurso metodológico usado assentou fundamentalmente na pesquisa e observação de um vasto conjunto de literatura e documentação relacionada com a área do estudo, complementada por entrevistas a responsáveis militares e especialistas, e por um inquérito efetuado a Oficiais generais e Oficiais superiores das Forças Armadas portuguesas. Como principal resultado deste estudo, concluímos que é possível dar uma resposta ao problema apresentado. Identificámos uma tipologia de Ferramentas Colaborativas adequada para as Forças Armadas e um alargado conjunto de benefícios resultantes da sua exploração nos processos de planeamento e decisão. Destes, importa destacar a importância de permitir uma efetiva colaboração entre Comandos e Forças geograficamente dispersos, a relevância dos seu uso para encurtar os ciclos de planeamento e decisão e o contributo significativo para um melhor entendimento da situação operacional por parte do Comandante e dos escalões subordinados, com impacto direto na tomada de decisão. Concluímos ainda que para uma melhor implementação e exploração das Ferramentas Colaborativas de forma transversal nas Forças Armadas, é essencial uma progressiva mudança da cultura e estrutura organizacional, alicerçada num forte empenhamento e determinação da liderança de topo, e na definição de uma estratégia global de colaboração. Como corolário desta investigação, foi possível apresentar um conjunto de propostas essenciais, a observar num desejável processo de implementação das Ferramentas Colaborativas nas Forças Armadas portuguesas, que permita melhorar os níveis de eficiência de colaboração nas Forças Armadas com um impacto direto na capacidade e qualidade das respostas. Abstract: As a result of the ongoing technological revolution in the field of information and communications technologies coupled with their impact in the development and resolution of the new conflicts, NATO and the allied Armed Forces have implemented great changes both at organizational and technological levels. The foundations of this great change are the new concepts and doctrine resulting from the “NATO Network Enabled Capability”, which has been adopted by the Alliance. Collaboration being a vital core element to sustain this new NATO doctrine, it is surely a fact that computer-assisted collaboration has assumed a special role by facilitating the collaborative processes between commands, forces and other elements in an environment characterized by a pulsating events dynamics involving large information flux in scenarios of great geographical dispersion. In this context, NATO and the large majority of the Armed Forces of allied countries have been implementing, gradually and consistently, a comprehensive set of Collaborative Tools, which allow an adequate response to the needs emerging from this new philosophy underlying the planning and execution of military operations. In the absence of an application doctrine envisaging the implementation and exploitation of the collaborative processes in the Portuguese Armed Forces, the objective of this study is to identify the Collaborative Tools typology which is best adequate both to the planning and decisional processes and the consequent impacts resulting from its implementation and exploitation. This work has followed the Raymond Quivy and Luc Van Campenhoudt (2003) investigation methodology, resorting to the hypothetical-deductive method. The methodological path used herein was mainly founded on the research and observation of a vast set of literature and documentation related with this study field, which was subsequently complemented by interviews to military leaders and area experts coupled with an inquiry to Flag and high-ranking officers of the Portuguese Armed Forces. The main result of this study led us to conclude that it is indeed possible to respond to the problem. We have identified a typology of Collaborative Tools which is adequate to the Armed Forces and a comprehensive set of benefits resulting from its exploitation in the planning and decisional processes. As regards the latter, one must highlight the importance of allowing an effective collaboration between commands and forces geographically dispersed, the relevance of its use to shorten the planning and decisional cycles and the significant contribution to a better understanding of the operational situation by the Commander and the subordinate levels, with a direct impact on the decision-making process. We have also concluded that for a better implementation and exploitation of the Collaborative Tools, aiming at a transversal application within the Armed Forces, it is essential that a progressive cultural and organizational change be promoted and achieved, founded in the strong commitment and determination of the top leadership spheres and in the definition of a global collaboration strategy. As a corollary of this research it was possible to present a set of essential proposals which must be observed in a desirable implementation process of the Collaborative Tools within the framework of the Portuguese Armed Forces, thus allowing the improvement of the collaboration efficiency levels within the Armed Forces with a direct impact both in the response capability and quality

The CSCW paradigm for software development

People work together to solve a wide variety of problems using different forms of cooperation for each class of problem. Modern technology is complex, and therefore it is unusual for an individual to attempt the development of a major project single-handedly. In an attempt to provide computer-based support for the problems that arise when two or more people attempt to cooperate to perform a task or solve a problem, the area of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) becomes relevant. The software development process almost invariably involves cooperation that crosses group, professional, and subcultural boundaries. The complexity of software development demands that highly integrated groups of analysts, designers, and users are involved in the process. Many development activities may occur concurrently. The area of CSCW and advanced information technology, with its enormous capabilities for transmitting and storing information, holds considerable promise for the software development process.ComputingM. Sc. (Information Systems

Seventh Annual Workshop on Space Operations Applications and Research (SOAR 1993), volume 2

This document contains papers presented at the Space Operations, Applications and Research Symposium (SOAR) Symposium hosted by NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC) and cosponsored by NASA/JSC and U.S. Air Force Materiel Command. SOAR included NASA and USAF programmatic overviews, plenary session, panel discussions, panel sessions, and exhibits. It invited technical papers in support of U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Department of Energy, NASA, and USAF programs in the following areas: robotics and telepresence, automation and intelligent systems, human factors, life support, and space maintenance and servicing. SOAR was concerned with Government-sponsored research and development relevant to aerospace operations

Organisation, Power and E-mail: An Investigation of Electronic Power Relationships

This thesis examines and contributes to the study of how, and in what forms, power and influence is communicated via e-mail. The methods used in the investigation examine the e-mail patterns of six respondents, who occupy varying hierarchical positions, within a single public sector organisation. It achieves this examination through a discourse analysis of each respondent’s sent mail box, using the respondents themselves as secondary coders. Underpinning the empirical work is an examination of how the theories of Foucault relate to the subject of power and e-mail. The examination suggests that Foucault’s methodology can provide insight into the role of power in influencing e-mail discursive patterns. This is theoretically achieved by applying a similar structural linguistic methodology to that used by Foucault to uncover how logical relations appear in e-mail exchanges and the power relationships they produce. Central to the application of Foucault’s work is the notion of context; a theoretical concept that suggests relational power as expressed through e-mails is shaped by the perceptual relationship between actors and text