La plataforma iTecSoft: Un caso de colaboración inter-organizativa 2.0.

El artículo describe la metodología utilizada para abordar el problema de la colaboración intra- e inter-organizativa mediante la descripción del caso específico del proyecto ITECBAN. En este caso, la colaboración se describe en los términos de la organización virtual y el problema se afronta bajo parámetros de flexibilidad a la hora de definir y gestionar esa organización virtual, formada por equipos de trabajo y profesionales geográfica y organizativamente dispersos. La solución planteada, la plataforma Itecsoft, se apoya en una arquitectura abierta de colaboración y una serie de componente de middleware y servicios que acaban tomando sustanciándose en un conjunto de herramientas de código libre en su mayoría provenientes de proyectos y comunidades que han surgido o se han reactivado al calor del fenómeno “dos-punto-cero”. Las principales aportaciones de la solución propuesta son la resolución del problema de la identidad en el entorno distribuido y descentralizado de colaboración de ITECBAN, junto con la selección, evaluación e integración de las herramientas de colaboración dentro de esa arquitectura abierta

A context-aware framework for CSCW applications in enterprise environments

Future pervasive environments will take into consideration physical and digital social relationships. Nowadays it is important to use collective intelligence, where the interpretation of context information can be harnessed as input for context-aware applications, especially for group collaboration. For collaborative applications this represents opportunities, but also new challenges in terms of using collective information for adaptability and personalization in pervasive environments. This paper presents the challenges in design and development of a context-aware framework CSCW supporting pro-behaviour capabilities in pervasive communities

A context-aware framework for collaborative activities in pervasive communities

Pervasive environments involve the interaction of users with the objects that surround them and also other participants. In this way, pervasive communities can lead the user to participate beyond traditional pervasive spaces, enabling the cooperation among groups taking into account not only individual interests, but also the collective and social context. In this study, the authors explore the potential of using context-aware information in CSCW application in order to support collaboration in pervasive environments. In particular this paper describes the approach used in the design and development of a context-aware framework utilizing users' context information interpretation for behaviour adaptation of collaborative applications in pervasive communities

Modelo sobre la actitud hacia la colaboraci?n virtual en un entorno laboral

La actitud hacia la colaboraci?n virtual son los sentimientos positivos o negativos de un individuo acerca de la colaboraci?n virtual. Hoy en d?a es importante, para las organizaciones empresariales y el ?mbito acad?mico, entender los factores que influyen en la colaboraci?n de manera virtual. Esta investigaci?n busca comprobar el nivel de influencia de factores sociales e individuales en la actitud hacia la colaboraci?n virtual en el ?mbito laboral. Los constructos que se relacionan son la expectativa de resultados, la expectativa de respaldo del grupo y la experiencia con tecnolog?as colaborativas. El modelo se valid? en base a las respuestas de 505 participantes de empresas de diferentes sectores: tecnolog?a, producci?n industrial, energ?a, consultor?a, telecomunicaciones, construcci?n entre otras. Se realiz? un an?lisis confirmatorio donde los resultados validaron que la actitud hacia la colaboraci?n virtual es influenciada por la expectativa de resultados en colaboraci?n, la expectativa de respaldo del grupo y la experiencia con las tecnolog?as de colaboraci?n

Improving interoperability of AEC collaborative software through the creation of data exchange standards

Today collaborative systems are increasingly being used to manage project information on large and medium sized construction projects. The speed of expansion in use of these systems combined with the lack of consolidation has led to a highly fragmented marketplace for collaborative products. Organisations participating in the construction lifecycle are currently free to select a collaborative system from any of the available providers, but once selected were unable to effectively change service provider until the conclusion of the project. This perceived lock-in along with concerns over the stability of some technology providers has created unease amongst the user community and is hindering the adoption of collaborative tools. Since 2003 the bulk of major UK construction project collaborative software providers have been working together to develop standards that will allow for project data to be transferred between vendor applications. Under the umbrella of the Network of Construction Collaboration Technology Providers (NCCTP), a number of solutions have been designed allowing for project data to be transferred between heterogeneous collaborative systems. Through extensive industry participation, this thesis shows how the theoretical work done in creating representations of collaborative systems can be applied to real world system to allow for data to be transfer in bulk, incrementally or in real time. The findings of work are presented in four peer reviewed papers, three technical reports and a number of supporting documents which comprise the developed data exchange standards. Work in this field is continuing to evolve with the suppliers of collaborative systems seeking to implement additional integration

Modeling and exploitation of the traces of interactions in the collaborative working environment

Les sciences humaines et le progrès social ne peuvent pas se poursuivre sans collaboration. Avec le développement rapide des technologies de l'information et la popularité des appareils intelligents, le travail collaboratif est beaucoup plus simple et plus fréquents que jamais. Les gens peuvent travailler ensemble sans tenir compte de leur emplacement/ location géographique ou de la limitation de temps. Les environnements de travail de collaboration basés sur le Web sont conçus et consacrés à supporter/soutenir le travail individuel et le travail en groupe dans divers domaines: la recherche, les affaires, l'éducation, etc. N'importe quelle activité dans un système d'information produit un ensemble de traces. Dans un contexte de travail collaboratif, de telles traces peuvent être très volumineuses et hétérogènes. Pour un Environnement de Travail Collaboratif (ETC) typique Basé sur le Web, les traces sont principalement produites par des activités collaboratives ou des interactions collaboratives et peuvent être enregistrées. Les traces modélisées ne représentent pas seulement la connaissance, mais aussi l'expérience acquise par les acteurs via leurs interactions mutuelles ou les interactions qu'ils ont avec le système. Avec la complexité croissante de la structure de groupe et les besoins fréquents de collaboration, les interactions existantes deviennent de plus en plus difficiles à saisir et à analyser. Or, pour leurs travaux futurs, les gens ont souvent besoin de récupérer des informations issues de leurs activités de collaboration précédentes. Cette thèse se concentre sur la définition, la modélisation et l'exploitation des différentes traces dans le contexte d'Environnement de Travail Collaboratif et en particulier aux Traces Collaboratives dans l'espace de travail partagé de groupe (ou l'espace de travail collaboratif). Un modèle de traces de collaboration qui peuvent efficacement enrichir l'expérience du groupe et aider à la collaboration de groupe est proposé et détaillé. Nous présentons ensuite et définissons un type de filtre complexe comme un moyen possible d'exploiter ces traces. Plusieurs scénarios de base d'exploitation des traces collaboratives sont présentés. Pour chacun d'entre eux, nous présentons leurs effets et les avantages procurés par ces effets dans l'environnement de travail collaboratif. En effet, un cadre de l'exploitation des traces général est introduit et nous expliquons mis en œuvre dans un ETC. Trois approches collaboratives générant des traces sont discutées à l'aide d'exemples: l'Analyse SWOT, l'intégration de modèle de maturité de la capacité (CMMI) et le Système de Recommandation de Groupe. Une expérimentation de ce modèle a été réalisée dans le cadre de la plate-forme collaborative E-MEMORAe2.0. Cette expérience montre que notre modèle de trace collaborative et le cadre d'exploitation proposé pour l'environnement de travail collaboratif peuvent faciliter à la fois le travail personnel et de groupe. Notre approche peut être appliquée comme un moyen générique pour traiter différents sujets et problèmes, qu'il s'agisse de collaboration ou de l'exploitation des traces laissées dans un ECT.Human science and social progress cannot continue without collaboration. With the rapid development of information technologies and the popularity of smart devices, collaborative work is much simpler and more common than ever. People can work together irrespective of their geographical location or time limitation. In recently years, Web-based Collaborative Working Environments (CWE) are designed and devoted to support both individual and group work to a greater extent in various areas: research, business, learning and etc. Any activity in an information system produces a set of traces. In a collaborative working context, such traces may be very voluminous and heterogeneous. For a typical Webbased Collaborative Working Environment, traces are mainly produced by collaborative activities or interactions and can be recorded. The modeled traces not only represent knowledge but also experience concerning the interactive actions among the actors or between actors and the system. With the increasing complexity of group structure and frequent collaboration needs, the existing interactions become more difficult to grasp and to analyze. And for the future work, people often need to retrieve more information from their previous collaborative activities. This thesis focuses on defining, modeling and exploiting the various traces in the context of CWE, in particular, Collaborative Traces (CTs) in the group shared/collaborativeworkspace. A model of collaborative traces that can efficiently enrich group experience and assist group collaboration is proposed and detailed. In addition, we introduce and define a type of complex filter as a possible means to exploit the traces. Several basic scenarios of collaborative traces exploitation are presented describing their effects and advantages in CWE. Furthermore, a general traces exploitation framework is introduced and implemented in CWE. Three possible traces based collaborative approaches are discussed with comprehensive examples: SWOT Analysis, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and Group Recommendation System. As a practical experience we tested our model in the context of the E-MEMORAe2.0 collaborative platform. Practical cases show that our proposed CT model and the exploitation framework for CWE can facilitate both personal and group work. This approach can be applied as a generic way for addressing different types of collaboration and trace issues/problems in CWE.COMPIEGNE-BU (601592101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Collaborative distance: investigating issues related to distance factors affecting collaboration performance

Both organisations and individuals are using more collaborative work, across geographic, disciplinary and organisational boundaries, leading to increased demand for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to support a more effective and efficient distributed collaboration. This thesis presents an empirical study exploring various aspects related to collaborative distance in the context of innovation projects. It focuses on the investigation of issues related to distance factors that affect collaboration effectiveness and efficiency. A total of 14 focus group interviews, undertaken with 75 participants in a comparative study of 14 project cases, revealed sufficient evidence on distance factors in the context of mixed (face-to-face and online or virtual) collocation modes. The results confirmed the positive role of collaboration technology for compressing geographical and temporal types of distance; other distance types were also bridged, however, other distance types were created. This empirical study aims to enlarge the academic understanding of distance factors by disambiguating their description and deciphering their role in the collaboration process, and clarifying the reasons for the use and improvement of collaboration technology for overcoming collaborative distances. It also confirms that distance factors raise collaboration barriers, and reveals that they disturb the collaboration mechanics by hindering knowledge workers’ capacity to reach a mutual understanding. Such findings have deep implications for the future enhancement of collaboration technology to fill the current gaps in distributed collaboration, also called e-Collaboration

Collaborative distance: investigating issues related to distance factors affecting collaboration performance

Both organisations and individuals are using more collaborative work, across geographic, disciplinary and organisational boundaries, leading to increased demand for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to support a more effective and efficient distributed collaboration. This thesis presents an empirical study exploring various aspects related to collaborative distance in the context of innovation projects. It focuses on the investigation of issues related to distance factors that affect collaboration effectiveness and efficiency. A total of 14 focus group interviews, undertaken with 75 participants in a comparative study of 14 project cases, revealed sufficient evidence on distance factors in the context of mixed (face-to-face and online or virtual) collocation modes. The results confirmed the positive role of collaboration technology for compressing geographical and temporal types of distance; other distance types were also bridged, however, other distance types were created. This empirical study aims to enlarge the academic understanding of distance factors by disambiguating their description and deciphering their role in the collaboration process, and clarifying the reasons for the use and improvement of collaboration technology for overcoming collaborative distances. It also confirms that distance factors raise collaboration barriers, and reveals that they disturb the collaboration mechanics by hindering knowledge workers’ capacity to reach a mutual understanding. Such findings have deep implications for the future enhancement of collaboration technology to fill the current gaps in distributed collaboration, also called e-Collaboration