Conceptual frameworks for the development of CSCW systems

Models and theories concerning cooperation have long been recognised as an important aid in the development of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) systems. However, there is no consensus regarding the set of concepts and abstractions that should underlie such models and theories. Furthermore, common patterns are hard to discern in different models and theories. This paper analyses a number of existing models and theories, and proposes a generic conceptual framework based on the strengths and commonalities of these models. We analyse five different developments, viz., Coordination Theory, Activity Theory, Task Manager model, Action/Interaction Theory and Object-Oriented Activity Support model, to propose a generic model based on four key concepts common to these developments, viz. activity, actor, information and service

A component-based groupware development methodology

Software development in general and groupware applications in particular can greatly benefit from the reusability and interoperability aspects associated with software components. Component-based software development enables the construction of software artefacts by assembling prefabricated, configurable and independently evolving buildings blocks, called software components. This paper presents a methodology for the development of groupware applications using a set of composable software components. This methodology consists of splitting the software development process according to four abstraction levels, viz., enterprise, system, component and object, and three different views, viz., structural, behavioural and interactional. The use of different abstraction levels and views allows a better control of the development process. We illustrate this methodology using a chat application as a case stud

Semantic Context Reasoning using Ontology based Models

Abstract. New mobile computing technologies and the increasing use of portable devices have pushed the development of the so-called context-aware applications. This new class of applications aims at improving human-computer interactions by supporting dynamic adaptations according to context changes. This paper discusses the suitability of using ontologies for modeling context information and presents the design, implementation and applicability of an ontology based context interpreter. The proposed interpreter is responsible for inferring new context information in a context-aware services platform