A Web Collaboration Architecture

Abstract

Computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) has typically been bound within organizations. Groupware applications are designed with organizational structures in mind, in a top-down approach that predicts communication and collaboration interactions between people. With Internet adoption in society, CSCW overflows organizational borders towards Internet supported collaborative work (ISCW), where the organization of work becomes decentralized, centered on individual interests and pretty dynamic. This paper proposes a Web collaboration architecture for the new Web environment. The article reviews common groupware problems and reflects recent organizational changes. It presents Web 2.0 features and technical state-of-the-art. Then, it describes the architecture proposed, to finish with conclusions and future research lines