Los equipos de trabajo en cualquier escenario requieren mantener una estrecha comunicación para lograr un objetivo conjunto y desde un principio la ciencia de la computación ha estado al servicio de las personas entregando herramientas para facilitar la colaboración. En las últimas décadas la aparición de los equipos móviles de forma masiva y el aumento de potencia, ofrecen una nueva área de investigación para generar herramientas colaborativas. El presente trabajo propone una plataforma que ofrezca soporte para el desarrollo de aplicaciones colaborativas orientada al trabajo en una red ad-hoc. El objetivo de la plataforma es simplificar la creación de aplicaciones colaborativas que permitan continuar con la investigación en esta área y de paso recabar las mejores propiedades de trabajos anteriores. La plataforma que se desarrolló consiste en 3 capas: comunicación, sesión y espacio de trabajo, cada una dependiente de la anterior. El sistema conjunto permite realizar aplicaciones colaborativas con interfaz usuaria gestual. Además para probar la plataforma se implementó un conjunto de aplicaciones y herramientas para el apoyo de testeo. Como prueba de conceptos se desarrollo una aplicación para diagramar procesos de negocio, esta aplicación, llamada FlowChart Maker, está orientada a la planificación de proyectos en las primeras etapas del diseño. Del trabajo se puede concluir que la plataforma cumple con los objetivos de comunicación, usabilidad, interfaz usuaria y mantenimiento.Y como trabajo a futuro se plantea extender la plataforma permitiendo sesiones asíncronas, realizar estudios de nuevas formas para generar gestos y reforzar la comunicación a través de Bluetooth.

Abstract This thesis contributes to the field of collaborative information systems and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). It extends the notion of technological support for design activities "in use" beyond providing the flexibility to tailor collaborative software, to provide means to support the appropriation process of these tools in their application fields. Two long-term studies on the evolution of usages of collaborative software in a German authority and in a network of freelancers in the field of consulting form the foundation of this work. Based on the experience there, it was possible to identify user activities that drive the appropriation process and to establish a perspective on the appropriation of a Groupware as a social process. Appropriation can be described as a collaborative effort of end users, who perform "appropriation activities" to make sense of the software in their work context. Besides activities to configure the software to fit into the technological, organisational and individual work context of the users ('Tailoring'), there is a larger area of technology-related communication, demonstration and negotiation activities aimed at establishing a shared understanding of how a software artefact works and what it can contribute to the shared work context. The mutual shaping of the technology and organisational contexts resemble an ongoing design process that end users perform largely without any involvement of professional developers. This perspective is the guiding line for developing means for "Appropriation Support", i.e., means to support the appropriation activities that end users perform. To inform the design of appropriation support measures and functions, current approaches that capture the collaborative dimensions of tailoring, and the necessities of 'discourse ergonomics' for technology-related online communication are explored. The trend to work with a tool 'infrastructure' instead of monolithic Groupware tools is a complicating yet important secondary consideration here, since it demonstrates the necessity to offer support 'beyond one tool' to support a use-oriented perspective on appropriation. The resulting idea of 'Use Discourse Environments' as a main concept for appropriation support which captures the activities of communication, demonstration and negotiation as well as the activity of tailoring (where possible) was implemented and evaluated in two prototypes that refer to the application fields of the initial studies. The idea of integrating online discourse, tool representations and tailoring facilities served as a guideline for the use discourse both in an event notification service as well as in the 'Online Future Workshop' that addressed a shared inter-organisational software development infrastructure. Based on the evaluations, design recommendations for appropriation support are made, and the problematic nature of appropriation activities as 'infrastructural work' versus the 'productive work' that end users consider their main area of work is addressed. The thesis concludes with a vision of collaborative software tools that do not only provide their original services, but also address end users as a 'virtual community of technology practice'.

Since the early eighties researchers have been studying the use of technology that supports collaboration amongst co-workers and group members. This field of computer science became known as Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). With the advent of wireless and mobile Internet communication technologies research in the CSCW field has been focused on providing “access, anytime and anywhere”. The main contribution of this study is to introduce and analyze the technology required to support casually connected collaboration. Firstly, we define casually connected collaboration as having “access, anytime and anywhere” to collaborators and resources without having explicit control or knowledge over the environment and its technical abilities. In order to distinguish between connected, mobile, and casually connected collaboration we introduce a conceptual model of collaboration that extrapolates the term “access, anytime and anywhere”. We then aim to prove the soundness of our model by using it to classify some well known collaboration scenarios. Furthermore, by evaluating the functional and non-functional requirements for a casually connected collaboration solution, we argue that current commercial and CSCW research implementations do not sufficiently meet these demands. We then present Nomad: a Peer-to-Peer framework specifically designed to overcome the challenges encountered in casually connected collaboration. We study the technology requirements and highlight the implementation details that enabled us to successfully conform to the requirements set by casually connected collaboration. Finally, we pave the road for future work by investigating new features introduced into the Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.0, Visual Studio 2010 and language enhancements made to C# version 4.0. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Computer Science / unrestricted

Collaborative Information Retrieval (CIR) is a branch of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). CIR is the process by which people search for and retrieve information, working together and using documents as data sources. Currently, computer support for CIR is limited to single user systems. Collaboration takes place either with users working at different times or in different locations. Multi-touch interaction has recently seen a rise in prominence owing to a reduction in the cost of the technology and increased frequency of use. Multi-touch surface computing allows multiple users to interact at once around a shared display. The aim of this research was to investigate how multi-touch interaction techniques could be used to support CIR effectively in a co-located environment. An application architecture for CIR systems that incorporates multi-touch interaction techniques was proposed. A prototype, called Co-IMBRA, was developed based on this architecture that used multi-touch interaction techniques to support CIR. This prototype allows multiple users to retrieve information, using the Internet as a shared information space. Documents are represented as visual objects that can be manipulated on the multi-touch surface, as well as rated, annotated and added to folders. A user study was undertaken to evaluate Co-IMBRA and determine whether the multi-touch interaction techniques effectively supported CIR. Fifteen teams of two users each participated in the user study. High task completion rates and low task times showed that the system was effective and efficient. High levels of user satisfaction were reported in the post-test questionnaires. Participants rated the system as highly useful and several commented that it promoted collaboration and that they enjoyed the test. The successful implementation of Co-IMBRA provides evidence that multi-touch interaction techniques can effectively support CIR. The results of the user evaluation also enabled recommendations for future research to be made.

The focus of this thesis is to analyze how online hosted applications available free of charge can be used to support work in virtual teams. The objectives are first to characterize virtual teams and groupware applications, and then to analyze the scope and functionality of available applications including more detailed evaluation and comparison of certain selected applications (which also support collaborative document creation). Key factors that need to be considered when choosing applications for virtual teams are identified along with other characteristics of virtual teams and team processes. A brief outline of the characteristic features of groupware applications and the SaaS model is followed by comprehensive analysis of various categories of available applications and their functionality. This analysis includes recommendations regarding the suitability of different applications for specific teams and situations. Services offered by suppliers of more complex sets of applications, which include applications supporting collaborative document creation, are analyzed and compared in greater detail. Some of these sets are recommended as a suitable foundation for complex support of the work of a virtual team. The whole analysis is closed by an illustrative case scenario, which can be used as an educational tool to enable people to get to know the basic principles of virtual teamwork and of some of the applications analyzed in this thesis.

The topic of the presented diploma thesis revolves around team cooperation support applications, also known under the term groupware. The author first explains the common terms pertaining to the issue at hand and subsequently places these applications into the information system infrastructure of an organization. Afterward, the functions of these applications are listed and characterized in more detail. The core of this thesis lies in outlining a method of evaluating these applications in terms of their meeting predetermined criteria (groupware, the SaaS model, free of charge, general scope of functions). From the user's perspective, the applications are evaluated by criteria divided into four areas (graphic design, user-friendliness, functionality, technological compatibility). Weighted average is instrumental to the analysis. The method puts accent on flexibility, fair-mindedness, reusability. The final part of the present diploma thesis is devoted to the underlying principles of the manual which would help team leaders to choose the right groupware application.

The master thesis is focused on the implementation of data management tool and the tool for customer relationship management to the team of sales representatives. The goal is to define requirements for these tools, their selection was based on defined requirements, implementations and customization for the needs of the sales representatives team. The master thesis is divided into two main areas, theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part focuses on the description of social groups, work groups, teams and gamification. In the theoretical part is generally described the issue of groupware applications, explaining topic of the cloud computing and finally the theory of systems for customer relationship management. The practical part focuses on the description of the team of sales representatives and defining requirements to improve informatics support for their activities. After that, market is analyzed in the area of data management tools and tools for customer relationship management. Then selected systems are implemented and configured to comply the team of sales representatives. The main outcomes of the master thesis are implemented two systems, one for data management and one for customer relationship management. The work provides general description of both of these systems and detailed description of the installation. It enables the administrator actions and allows adjustments functionality. The main contribution lies in the selection, implementation, setting and description of these systems so that they can fulfill the function of the informatics support of sales representatives team.

This thesis "The Analysis of IT possibilities and utilization in teamwork on the school projects" deals with a problem of teamwork cooperation of the students of the University of Economics in Prague. The students worked on school projects, using information technologies. The introduction of the thesis deals with the basic theoretical knowledge of formation, functioning and team communication. Then some specification of collaborative software is given. Fundamental subject matter of the practical part of this thesis shows the outcome of a survey by questionnaire which analyses students' general view on teamwork. It is followed by the team origin aspect, organization of teams and the analysis of information technology possibilities and utilization in the cooperation of students. In conclusion the author makes some suggestions resulting from gained information on the school team creation and on the information technologies utilization in teamwork projects.

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is the study of how people use technology, with relation to hardware and software, to work together in shared time and space. Mobile office environments are becoming commonplace. Workers form virtual online communities on a global scale and use groupware to collaborate and complete a common goal. We tend to be mobile, yet need to be available to collaborate. This thesis investigates a protocol for our decentralized artifact control system, Nomad. Nomad enables globally dispersed members of small casually connected communities to share artifacts which are gathered on a best effort approach. The Nomad protocol takes into consideration the work habits of users and their variety of devices. The major contribution of this thesis is a simulator of the Nomad protocol, which serves as a proof-of-concept for its design. Specifically, we look at how such a protocol handles casually connected small communities. We consider high level aspects such as setting up the community, the overhead of nodes, availability, scalability and connectivity. We demonstrate scenarios that the protocol will need to handle. Furthermore, we take a broad look at CSCW, push and pull technologies, peer-to-peer technologies, and enabling technologies such as Microsoft .Net. These form the basis of the Nomad design. In addition, we suggest the integration of mobile agents, which we consider a future addition to Nomad. It was found that the protocol had to compensate for two nodes that were never online at the same time. In the case that a best effort approach is not feasible, we propose alternate approaches at the cost of overhead on a propagation node. The developed concept provided valuable insight into the problem domain, outlined the boundaries of the protocol and provided a possible solution for Nomad. The simulator proved to be a useful tool for determining outcomes from possible scenarios. The results from the simulator will feed directly into the development of Nomad. / Dissertation (MSc (Computer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Computer Science / unrestricted

Diploma thesis is dedicate to plan project which task is to improve communication on high school while it is going to use project and change management. The theoretical part is about basic knowledge of project and change management. Analysis of current state is done primarly with strategic analysis. Practical part include Logical Framework approach, risk analysis, budget etc. In this part we also choose and implement chosen IT solution. Benefits of the project and project itself is summarized at the end of thesis.