From Profiles to Patterns: A New View of Task-Technology Fit

Continuing advances in the capabilities of communication and information technologies provide a wide array of interesting ways for people to collaborate across space, time, cultures, and organizational boundaries. While the use of collaboration technologies spreads, researchers seek answers to understanding how best to match different technology capabilities with the tasks that teams need to accomplish. Different theories of task-technology fit have been promoted and these theories help to identify key issues of interest to both researchers and practitioners who seek the answer to the best technology support for collaboration. We examine existing theories of fit for collaboration technology and propose a new view, using the theoretical frame of patterns. We argue that this fresh perspective is particularly relevant in the virtual contexts that are so important in the dynamic life of organizations today.     

基于以活动为中心的协同标绘集成系统

基于以活动为中心的协同模式,结合可扩展消息处理现场协议(XMPP),音视频,用户身份标识提示等多种技术给出了一种新的协同标绘集成系统的设计.该设计按照美国W. Keith Edwards提出的协同感知评价标准进行评定,在地点、当前任务、潜在的可打断性和对其他用户展现中的3个方面上能够较好地支持协同中的感知,最大限度地接近现实世界中的协同感知.     

Large-scale coordination: developing a framework to evaluate socio-technical and collaborative issues

Collaborative logistics, logistics-based networks, focused logistics, and distributed adaptive logistics refer to innovative approaches to logistics planning/execution encompassing automated, adaptive technologies, and proactive human collaboration. Because these approaches are collaborative and distributed in nature, they create novel challenges for coordination and collaboration within socio-technical systems, which encompass the collaborative technologies, the people or machines engaged in collaboration, and the social context of collaboration and coordination. The present challenges need to be met by theoretical models incorporating multidisciplinary perspectives in the study of collaboration. The current paper introduces a collaboration framework which may inform the design and implementation of collaborative technologies and systems, to include distributed logistics teams, from a socio-technical perspective.     

云边协同综述

在物联网、大流量等场景下,传统的云计算具有强大的资源服务能力的优点和远距离传输的缺点,而新兴的边缘计算具有低传输时延的优点和资源受限的缺点,因此,结合了云计算与边缘计算优点的云边协同引起了研究者的广泛关注。在全面调查和分析云边协同相关文献的基础上,文中重点分析和讨论了资源协同、数据协同、智能协同、业务编排协同、应用管理协同和服务协同等协同技术的实现原理和研究思路与进展。然后分别从云端和边缘端深入分析了各种协同技术在协同中所起的作用以及具体的使用方法,并从时延、能耗以及其他性能指标方面对结果进行了对比分析。最后指出了云边协同目前存在的挑战和未来的发展方向。本综述有望为云边协同的研究提供有益的参考。     

Walking the Tightrope: The Balancing Acts of a Large e-Research Project

Although e-Research has received much attention and acclaim in recent years, the realities of distributed collaboration still challenge even the most well-planned endeavors. This case study of an e-Research project examines the ‚balancing acts’ associated with multidisciplinary, geographically distributed, large-scale research and development work. After briefly describing the history and organizational design of this information technology and atmospheric science research project, I identify five paradoxical challenges that cannot be resolved: research versus development, harmony versus conflict, consensus versus top-down decision making, frequency and modes of communication, and fast versus slow pacing. Although collaboration and communication technologies supported the project’s management and organization, most of the complexities faced by the team were not technological in nature. From the five paradoxical challenges associated with the project, I distill three cross-cutting issues that could be relevant to other e-Research projects of this magnitude: satisfying the multiple needs of a multidisciplinary project, managing information, and engaging all participants. I identify the practical implications of these challenges and issues, specifically that organizational and low-tech solutions – not the introduction of more sophisticated technology tools – are needed to solve these challenges and to better streamline coordination.     

新疆生产建设兵团水利信息化资源整合与共享

近年来新疆生产建设兵团水利信息化建设快速发展,但没有形成全面服务、有效支撑、共建共享、协同工作的局面,针对水利信息化应用信息孤岛、数据孤岛、业务割据的状况,兵团开展水利信息资源整合共享工作。结合兵团水利信息建设现状,资源整合与共享采用面向服务的 SOA 架构,基于 J2EE 平台设计、开发、 部署系统,采用 Spring,Struts,MVC 等技术实现异构资源集成,运用 Web Service 解决业务应用服务共享,以 WebGIS 技术提升地图和功能服务能力,解决兵团水利信息化整合中的关键技术和应用服务问题。已初步建成水利信息资源整合集成、业务协同与高效应用的共享服务平台,提升兵团水利信息应用保障能力和服务水平,提高水利行政管理效能,为类似的水利信息化整合共享提供解决方案。     

Geospatial information infrastructures to address spatial needs in health: Collaboration,challenges and opportunities

Most health-related issues such as public health outbreaks and epidemiological threats are better understood from a spatial–temporal perspective and, clearly demand related geospatial datasets and services so that decision makers may jointly make informed decisions and coordinate response plans. Although current health applications support a kind of geospatial features, these are still disconnected from the wide range of geospatial services and datasets that geospatial information infrastructures may bring into health. In this paper we are questioning the hypothesis whether geospatial information infrastructures, in terms of standards-based geospatial services, technologies, and data models as operational assets already in place, can be exploited by health applications for which the geospatial dimension is of great importance. This may be certainly addressed by defining better collaboration strategies to uncover and promote geospatial assets to the health community. We discuss the value of collaboration, as well as the opportunities that geographic information infrastructures offer to address geospatial challenges in health applications.     

对垃圾邮件过滤技术的问题研究

近年来,电子邮件方便人们的生活,同时,也有大量的垃圾邮件不断涌现,随之也出现了各种垃圾邮件过滤技术。文中主要介绍基于信件源垃圾邮件过滤技术和基于内容的垃圾邮件过滤技术,通过对这两种技术的介绍,分析了垃圾邮件过滤技术的优缺点,并对垃圾邮件过滤技术中存在的问题进行了讨论。垃圾邮件发送者不断改变发送策略以逃避过滤技术的过滤,垃圾邮件发送策略也不断的更新。文中对近年来垃圾邮件发送的新策略进行了详细的阐述,讨论目前垃圾邮件过滤技术研究中遇到的问题和挑战。     

应急实体协作能力与活动连续性的关联研究

针对突发事件救援过程中,由于应急队伍等资源实体间协作模式不够优化,调度匹配度不够高等问题,提出基于案例库和预案库,计算应急执行实体的技能贡献度,实体间的关系强度和协作度,用应急实体轨迹挖掘高协作算法来挖掘应急实体间的高协作模式,为提高应急队伍的调度管理的完备度和匹配度提供基础数据,同时基于实体的活动轨迹和活动的连续度,挖掘出高连续性的活动,为救援中决策应急活动的序列奠定基础.结果显示同种、异种应急实体的协调能力随着协作次数的变化规律,跟以往凭借经验决策的结果有很大背离,为应急队伍的合理调度和制定高效的应急预案提供了重要的数据支撑,有实际价值.     

基于软件定义网络的云边协同架构研究综述

随着5G和物联网时代的到来以及云计算应用的逐渐增加,各有所长的边缘计算与云计算势必彼此融合进行云边协同,实现云计算与边缘计算的优势互补和协同联动.SDN网络因其灵活开放可编程的网络架构被认为是解决当前云计算和边缘计算协同问题的有效方法.基于云计算和边缘计算的优势与不足对云边协同的必要性和具体内涵进行了梳理,归纳总结了目...     

5G移动通信技术及其发展研究

在移动通信技术飞速发展背景下，移动通信技术广泛渗透到人们生活、生产中，并为人们生活生产带来了极大便利。就现阶段发展实情而言，4G移动通信仍然保持着高速发展的态势，并处在主导地位。与此同时，移动用户对移动通信技术也提出了更为严苛的要求。5G移动通信成为人们重点关注的内容。本文通过阐述5G移动通信技术的内涵特征，分析5G移动通信关键技术，对5G移动通信的发展趋势展开探讨，以期为促进5G移动通信技术的健康稳定发展提供一些帮助。     

Understanding knowledge-sharing breakdowns: a meeting of the quantitative and qualitative minds

Abstract The rapid advance of distance learning and networking technology has enabled universities and corporations to reach out and educate students across time and space barriers. Although this technology enables structured collaborative learning activities, online groups often do not enjoy the same benefits as face‐to‐face learners, and their instructors often do not have time to actively support and mediate the online collaboration. This article demonstrates our capacity to computationally model, analyse, and support online student interaction, in particular knowledge sharing. A unique combination of qualitative analysis and artificial intelligence methods was designed to (a) recognize when students are having trouble learning the new concepts they share with each other, and (b) understand why they are having trouble, so that we might assist an instructor or intelligent coach in mediating group knowledge‐sharing activities.     

The FUSE Platform: Supporting Ubiquitous Collaboration Within Diverse Mobile Environments

The recent proliferation of heterogeneous computing devices and wireless network technology presents new opportunities for Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). One emergent paradigm is that of ubiquitous collaboration, which provides widespread access to shared services through a variety of interactive devices, irrespective of whether individuals are mobile or deskbound. However, developing groupware that is interoperable across diverse, often mobile, environments can be difficult and costly. The fundamental issue is that current support infrastructures, which will meet the requirements for multi-user application development, are not operable within emerging ubiquitous settings. This paper explores this problem and presents a generic platform that promotes new forms of collaboration through mobility and ever-present computing services. The developed platform seeks to provide a wide range of collaborative services to a very diverse set of devices by adapting and extending existing middleware technologies.     

Field experiences with collaboration technology: A comparative study in Tanzania and South Africa

In the field of development, Information & Communication Technology (ICT) is often hailed and cursed at the same time. ICT offers great promise to enhance development activities' efficiency and effectiveness yet the literature is littered with examples of failure. A particular challenge concerns the application of ICT to support collaboration in development contexts. In this paper, we report on field experiences with one particular type of collaboration technology, Group Support Systems (GSS), and its role in supporting groups engaged in development activities. Being an North-American invention, research into GSS is predominantly focused on Western Euro-American settings. GSS field studies in other cultural environments are scarce. The objective of our study is to explore and compare the applicability of GSS in two particular environments: Tanzania and South Africa. Our data suggest that the use of GSS is evaluated positively in both countries, although Tanzanian groups perceived more benefits. In South Africa, top management displayed very open and non-conservative behavior towards the technology, while in Tanzania hesitance from top management can be expected to be the greatest hindrance for GSS acceptance and application. The data further indicate that GSS do not replace existing meeting customs, but rather introduce new ones that co-exist next to the traditional ones. A key difference between application of GSS in western and African environments is a stronger focus on the electronic part of discussions in Africa. Anonymity is perceived as the key feature.     

It's the Thought that Counts: The Mediating Effects of Information Processing in Virtual Team Decision Making

Previous research shows that although collaboration technology can improve the exchange of information during team decision making, one of the challenges is that this better discussion often does not lead to better decisions. In this paper, we investigate the impact of individual information processing on team decision making. We investigated the effects of two types of collaboration technology when participants were either the member of a team majority or a team minority. There was little impact due to the majority/minority, but the use of collaboration technology that required users to categorize the comments they received from others resulted in increased information processing, which in turn led to better decisions and more satisfied participants.     

Build grid-enabled large-scale collaboration environment in e-Learning grid

As a new branch of grid computing, e-Learning grid is emerging as a nationwide e-Learning infrastructure, which can provide innovative learning experience for learners. In such a grid environment, collaboration services will be the key elements due to the pervasive requirement for cooperative work and collaborative learning. Although there exist enormous research efforts on grid-based collaboration technologies, most of them have many limitations. In this paper, with the findings from the computer support cooperative work (CSCW)/computer support collaborative learning (CSCL) and advantages provided by grid, we propose to build grid-enabled large-scale collaboration environment (GLCE). GLCE focuses on distributed, large-scale, and cross-organizational collaboration through creating group-centered next generation collaboration environment, where both intra-group and inter-group collaboration could be supported. With this idea in mind, we present a grid-based cooperative work framework (GCWF), which aims to implement GLCE with an “upper layer” collaboration middleware based on the special-purpose grid infrastructure designed by our team. The preliminary results of our research on GLCE have been applied to build the learning assessment grid (LAGrid). The goal of LAGrid is to support the formative assessment business in China Radio and TV University (CRTVU) and large-scale collaboration within virtual organization (VO) has been realized.     

Enriching the Notion of Data Curation in E-Science: Data Managing and Information Infrastructuring in the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network

This paper aims to enrich the current understanding of data curation prevalent in e-Science by drawing on an ethnographic study of one of the longest-running efforts at long-term consistent data collection with open data sharing in an environment of interdisciplinary collaboration. In such a context we identify a set of salient characteristics of ecological research and data that shape the data stewardship approach of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network. We describe the actual practices through which LTER information managers attend to the extended temporal scale of long-term research and data sets both through data care work and information infrastructure development. We discuss the issues of long-term and continuity that represent central challenges for data curation and stewardship. We argue for more efforts to be directed to understanding what is at stake with a long-term perspective and differing temporal scales as well as to studying actual practices of data curation and stewardship in order to provide more coherent understandings of e-Science solutions and technologies.     

A review and framework of laser-based collaboration support

New technologies are emerging to enable and support physical, implicit and explicit collaborations. They are essential for dealing with increasingly complex systems in unstructured, dynamic environments. The purpose of this article is to review the role of laser technology in enabling better, more precise interactions and their control, and to identify opportunities and challenges in this area. While the most common applications of laser technology are found in medical and health care, manufacturing, and communication, other domains such as safety, quality assurance, agriculture, construction, entertainment, defense, transportation, and law enforcement also benefit from it. In spite of the rapid dissemination of this technology, its role in support of collaboration and discovery is still in its infancy. Research activities concerning new ways of using lasers as a collaboration supporting technology that may strengthen new areas have been relatively limited. Nevertheless, the translation to this domain of collaboration support has been recognized as vital for activities that demand increasingly more coordinated effort among interacting agents (e.g., humans, machines, particles) and digital, possibly also photonic agents. Recent advances in laser technology in a number of application domains are reviewed in this article, focusing primarily on lasers’ role for supporting different forms of precision interactions and collaboration. In addition, a framework with five collaboration support functions and five collaboration dimensions is defined for this review. The taxonomy framework is useful for enabling better understanding of the existing and emerging opportunities that laser-based technology offers for collaboration support, its advantages and several research gaps.     

Informed collaboration in health care: An embedded‐cases study in geriatric telepsychiatry

Telemedicine, the delivery of medical consultation and services, is enabled by information and communications technologies. Participants in telemedicine consultation services (ie, clinicians, patients, and other parties) use video conferencing, special‐purpose software and/or hardware, and data and notes from electronic medical records and other systems to formulate effective treatment plans. Telemedicine is a particular mode of informed collaboration—information and communications technology–supported collaborative activity in which collaborators rely (wholly or in part) on digitally stored information retrieved from various sources to pursue their collective objectives. We report on an embedded‐cases study of a long‐running geriatric telepsychiatry clinic in the north‐eastern United States. Our analysis draws on the theory of distributed cognition (DCog) to explicate the ways in which information and cognitive effort are distributed across individuals and artefacts to support psychiatric consultation from a distance and how these processes play out over time in routines. On the basis of this case study, we offer a refinement of DCog theory, focusing on four interrelated dynamic processes that, we propose, act as critical enablers of informed collaboration: cognitive offloading, visibility of action, intersubjective understanding, and knowledge redundancy. We discuss practical implications for designing telemedicine services and tools, and we offer suggestions for further research on informed collaboration.     

Multimodal Data Modeling Technology and Its App-19lication for Cloud-edge-device Collaboration

In the cloud-edge-device collaboration architecture, data types are diverse, and there are differences in storage resources and computing resources at all levels, which brings new challenges to data management. The existing data models or simple superposition of data models are difficult to meet the requirements of multimodal data management and collaborative management in the cloud-edge-device. Therefore, research on multimodal data modeling technology for cloud-edge-device collaboration has become an important issue. The core is how to efficiently obtain the query results that meet the needs of the application from the cloud-edge-device architecture. Starting from the data types of the three-layer data of cloud-edge-device, in this paper we propose a multimodal data modeling technology for cloud-edge-device collaboration, give the definition of multimodal data model based on tuples, and design six base classes to achieve a unified representation of multimodal data. The basic data operation architecture of cloud-edge-device collaborative query is also proposed to meet the query requirements of cloud-edge-device business scenarios. The integrity constraints of the multimodal data model are given, which lays a theoretical foundation for query optimization. Finally, a demonstration application of the multimodal data model for cloud-edge-device collaboration is given, and the proposed data model storage method is verified from the three aspects of data storage time, storage space, and query time. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme can effectively represent the multimodal data in the cloud-edge-device collaboration architecture.