In today's highly competitive global economy, information resources representing enterprise-wide information are essential to the survival of an organization. The development of and increase in the use of personal computers and data communication networks are supporting or, in many cases, replacing the traditional computer mainstay of corporations. The client/server model incorporates mainframe programming with desktop applications on personal computers. The aim of the research is to compile a technology model for the development of client/server software. A comprehensive overview of the individual components of the client/server system is given. The different methodologies, tools and techniques that can be used are reviewed, as well as client/server-specific design issues. The research is intended to create a road map in the form of a Technology Reference Model for Client/Server Software Development. / Computing / M. Sc. (Information Systems)

When more than one user uses a system with a single input device, the person in charge of the control is often active, and the by-sitters become passive. This situation can lead to frustration and boredom among the by-sitters. One way to solve this problem could be to distribute the con-trol over the system so that more than one user can control the system simultaneously. These systems, where many users can work simultane-ously with separate input devices connected to the same, shared screen, are called Single Display Groupwares. In this report, a single display groupware prototype for surfing news co-operatively was developed. The purpose of the prototype was to find out if the use of SDGs is likely to be a successful way to engage by-sitters and support co-operation while surfing news through a media terminal. The system was tested on pairs of users. The subjects of thestudy were observed while using the system, and a number of patterns in the users’ strategies in dealing with the si-multaneous input situation emerged. The main conclusions that were drawn from the study were that multiple input can be a good solution when the system is so complex that the use can be divided into several parallel sub-activities. When the use of the system can’t be split into parallel sub-activities, the users will only hinder each other, and the ex-tra input device will just make the division of control unclear without giving any benefit.

This master thesis describes our work with Team Sweden and how we have attempted to perform a Software Process Improvement using groupware. Team Sweden is a distributed academic software development organization doing research on artificial intelligence and robotics. Such an organization has a lot to gain from the introduction of a more structured process model. We have investigated the possibility of supporting the development processes of a small software development organization by introducing groupware. Only introducing a groupware tool or technique is not enough to improve the processes of an organization. Process improvement requires an infrastructure and groupware could be a useful tool for establishing it. Improved communication and knowledge sharing through groupware can be beneficial for establishing a process infrastructure. Groupware should be used in conjunction with other process improvement measures in order to be effective and improve the capability of the targeted organization. / This master thesis describes our work with Team Sweden and how we have attempted to perform a Software Process Improvement using groupware. / gustav@nordenskjold.com hakingma@hotmail.com

Groupware packages are increasingly being used to support content delivery, class discussion, student to student and student to faculty interactions and group work on projects. This research focused on groupware packages that are used to support students who are located in different places, but who are assigned group projects as part of their coursework requirements. In many cases, students are being asked to use unfamiliar technologies that are very different from those that support personal productivity. For example, computer-assisted cooperative work (CSCW) technology is different from other more traditional, stand-alone software applications because it requires the user to interact with the computer as well as other users. However, familiarity with the technology is not the only requirement for successful completion of a group assigned project. For a group to be successful, it must also have a desire to work together on the project. If this pre-requisite is not present within the group, then the technology will only create additional communication and coordination barriers. How much of an impact does each of these factors have on the acceptance of CSCW technology? The significance of this study is threefold. First, this research contributed to how a user's predisposition toward group work affects their acceptance of CSCW technology. Second, it helped identify ways to overcome some of the obstacles associated with group work and the use of CSCW technology in an academic online environment. Finally, it helped identify early adopters of CSCW software and how these users can form the critical mass required to diffuse the technology. This dissertation reports the impact of predisposition toward group work and prior computer experience on the intention to use synchronous CSCW. It was found that predisposition toward group work was not only positively associated to perceived usefulness; it was also related to intention to use. It also found that perceived ease of use, at least in this study, had a direct and positive impact on intention, and was not mediated through perceived usefulness. These findings hold implications for academia and how it uses complex collaborative software. Avenues for further research are identified.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T18:50:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcos.pdf: 560783 bytes, checksum: 45df79606180032c1fd588f84ba09a18 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-09 / The purpose of this research was to investigate if the communication and interactivity provided by a groupware, on a contextualized and problematized situation, may constitute a way to promote the construction of knowledge. The research involved students at the disciplines of Administrative Thinkink History, Financial Management I e Financial Management II, from the Business School of a private University at São Paulo State, using internet as pedagogical supporting tool to complement presencial studies. The methodology proposed was a case study focused on a scholar learning context. The data was collected combining participant observation and students personal testimonials using a non-structured interview. The analysis appealed to a text deconstruction of the interview corpus, fragmented on sense unitys that contained useful meanings to the research purpose, classified on four categories. The categories Time and virtual environment; Communication and Context represented partial arguments to validate the category Construction of Knowledge, which is the thesis, and therefore, the purpose of the search. The results provided an evidence that virtual environment has extended time and space for live environment classes, increasing communication and the possibility of exchanging information and ideas on interpersonal relationship basis. The groupware provided a way to gather people on the construction of knowledge; allows interactivity among cognitive persons that may, together, conceive and transform a known world; facilitate information exchange on conversation nets. The category Context analysis showed that reflection over arguments that comes from different points of view becomes richer when it is contextualized on a located and chronologysed situation. On the construction of knowledge, we presented that it occurs by debate and conversation about reality and its context, demanding comprehension and understanding of individual points of view on a collective and dynamic situation. The groupware is a conversation tool, an appropriated environment for an educational process anchored on communication, context and information. / O propósito desta dissertação foi investigar se a comunicação e a interatividade proporcionada pelo grupo de discussão em um espaço virtual, em situação contextualizada e problematizada, constituem caminho para se promover a construção do conhecimento. A pesquisa envolveu alunos das disciplinas de História do Pensamento Administrativo, Gerência Financeira I e Gerência Financeira II, do curso de Administração, de uma Universidade privada, do estado de São Paulo, tendo a Internet como ferramenta de apoio didático-pedagógico complementar aos estudos presenciais. Como metodologia recorreu-se a estudo de caso com foco no contexto acadêmico de ensino. Os dados foram coletados combinando-se a observação participante e depoimentos pessoais dos alunos, por meio de entrevista não-estruturada. Na análise, o recurso utilizado foi a desconstrução do texto transcrito das entrevistas, fragmentando-o em unidades de sentido que pudessem conter significados úteis ao objeto da investigação e, que por sua vez, foram classificados em quatro categorias para análise. As categorias Tempo e Espaço Virtual, Comunicação e Contexto constituíram os argumentos parciais utilizados para validação da categoria Construção do conhecimento, que é o ponto central e, portanto, o fim da pesquisa. Como resultados, constatamos que ambiente virtual ampliou o espaço e o tempo da aula presencial, aumentando a comunicação e a possibilidade de troca de informação e de idéias a partir de relacionamentos interpessoais. Verificou-se que o grupo de discussão é um meio de aproximar pessoas na construção de conhecimento; que permite a interação entre sujeitos cognoscentes que podem, juntos, conceber e transformar um mundo cognoscível; que facilita a interação, ampliando o intercâmbio de informações em torno de redes de conversação. Ao analisar a categoria contexto , verificamos que a reflexão sobre argumentos que partem de diferentes pontos de vista fica mais rica a partir de uma dada situação, localizada e datada. Quanto à construção do conhecimento, percebemos que ela ocorre pela discussão acerca da realidade e de seu contexto, exigindo compreensão e entendimento de pontos de vista individuais em situação coletiva e dinâmica. E que o grupo de discussão é um instrumento, um ambiente, adequado para se viver um processo educacional ancorado na comunicação, no contexto e na informação

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-18T17:54:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcos.pdf: 560783 bytes, checksum: 45df79606180032c1fd588f84ba09a18 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-09 / The purpose of this research was to investigate if the communication and interactivity provided by a groupware, on a contextualized and problematized situation, may constitute a way to promote the construction of knowledge. The research involved students at the disciplines of Administrative Thinkink History, Financial Management I e Financial Management II, from the Business School of a private University at São Paulo State, using internet as pedagogical supporting tool to complement presencial studies. The methodology proposed was a case study focused on a scholar learning context. The data was collected combining participant observation and students personal testimonials using a non-structured interview. The analysis appealed to a text deconstruction of the interview corpus, fragmented on sense unitys that contained useful meanings to the research purpose, classified on four categories. The categories Time and virtual environment; Communication and Context represented partial arguments to validate the category Construction of Knowledge, which is the thesis, and therefore, the purpose of the search. The results provided an evidence that virtual environment has extended time and space for live environment classes, increasing communication and the possibility of exchanging information and ideas on interpersonal relationship basis. The groupware provided a way to gather people on the construction of knowledge; allows interactivity among cognitive persons that may, together, conceive and transform a known world; facilitate information exchange on conversation nets. The category Context analysis showed that reflection over arguments that comes from different points of view becomes richer when it is contextualized on a located and chronologysed situation. On the construction of knowledge, we presented that it occurs by debate and conversation about reality and its context, demanding comprehension and understanding of individual points of view on a collective and dynamic situation. The groupware is a conversation tool, an appropriated environment for an educational process anchored on communication, context and information. / O propósito desta dissertação foi investigar se a comunicação e a interatividade proporcionada pelo grupo de discussão em um espaço virtual, em situação contextualizada e problematizada, constituem caminho para se promover a construção do conhecimento. A pesquisa envolveu alunos das disciplinas de História do Pensamento Administrativo, Gerência Financeira I e Gerência Financeira II, do curso de Administração, de uma Universidade privada, do estado de São Paulo, tendo a Internet como ferramenta de apoio didático-pedagógico complementar aos estudos presenciais. Como metodologia recorreu-se a estudo de caso com foco no contexto acadêmico de ensino. Os dados foram coletados combinando-se a observação participante e depoimentos pessoais dos alunos, por meio de entrevista não-estruturada. Na análise, o recurso utilizado foi a desconstrução do texto transcrito das entrevistas, fragmentando-o em unidades de sentido que pudessem conter significados úteis ao objeto da investigação e, que por sua vez, foram classificados em quatro categorias para análise. As categorias Tempo e Espaço Virtual, Comunicação e Contexto constituíram os argumentos parciais utilizados para validação da categoria Construção do conhecimento, que é o ponto central e, portanto, o fim da pesquisa. Como resultados, constatamos que ambiente virtual ampliou o espaço e o tempo da aula presencial, aumentando a comunicação e a possibilidade de troca de informação e de idéias a partir de relacionamentos interpessoais. Verificou-se que o grupo de discussão é um meio de aproximar pessoas na construção de conhecimento; que permite a interação entre sujeitos cognoscentes que podem, juntos, conceber e transformar um mundo cognoscível; que facilita a interação, ampliando o intercâmbio de informações em torno de redes de conversação. Ao analisar a categoria contexto , verificamos que a reflexão sobre argumentos que partem de diferentes pontos de vista fica mais rica a partir de uma dada situação, localizada e datada. Quanto à construção do conhecimento, percebemos que ela ocorre pela discussão acerca da realidade e de seu contexto, exigindo compreensão e entendimento de pontos de vista individuais em situação coletiva e dinâmica. E que o grupo de discussão é um instrumento, um ambiente, adequado para se viver um processo educacional ancorado na comunicação, no contexto e na informação

Presented thesis thesis is written for IBM Company, specifically IBM IDC Czech Republic, s.r.o. branch. The thesis describes development of statistic module for work database TIVOLE utilizing Lotus Notes program. The basic aim of the thesis is to ease creation of reports and graphical data outputs in relation to speed of operator´s work while narrowing down the required time of human resources for solving problems.

Web applications offering real-time collaboration support (e.g. Google Docs) allow geographically dispersed users to edit the very same document simultaneously, which is appealing to end-users mainly because of two application characteristics. On the one hand, provided real-time capabilities supersede traditional document merging and document locking techniques that distract users from the content creation process. On the other hand, web applications free end-users from lengthy setup procedures and allow for instant application access. However, implementing collaborative web applications is a time-consuming and complex endeavor since offering real-time collaboration support requires two specific collaboration services. First, a concurrency control service has to ensure that documents are synchronized in real-time and that emerging editing conicts (e.g. if two users change the very same word concurrently) are resolved automatically. Second, a workspace awareness service has to inform the local user about actions and activities of other participants (e.g. who joined the session or where are other participants working). Implementing and integrating these two collaboration services is largely ine cient due to (1) the lack of necessary collaboration functionality in existing libraries, (2) incompatibilities of collaboration frameworks with widespread web development approaches as well as (3) the need for massive source code changes to anchor collaboration support. Therefore, we propose a Generic Collaboration Infrastructure (GCI) that supports the e cient development of web-based groupware in various ways. First, the GCI provides reusable concurrency control functionality and generic workspace awareness support. Second, the GCI exposes numerous interfaces to consume these collaboration services in a exible manner and without requiring invasive source code changes. And third, the GCI is linked to a development methodology that e ciently guides developers through the development of web-based groupware. To demonstrate the improved development e ciency induced by the GCI, we conducted three user studies encompassing developers and end-users. We show that the development e ciency can be increased in terms of development time when adopting the GCI. Moreover, we also demonstrate that implemented collaborative web applications satisfy end-user needs with respect to established software quality characteristics (e.g. usability, reliability, etc.). / Webbasierte, kollaborative Echtzeitanwendungen (z.B. Google Docs) erlauben es geografisch verteilten Nutzern, Dokumente gemeinschaftlich und simultan zu bearbeiten. Die Implementierung kollaborativer Echtzeitanwendungen ist allerdings aufwendig und komplex, da einerseits eine Nebenläufigkeitskontrolle von Nöten ist und andererseits die Nachvollziehbarkeit von nicht-lokalen Interaktionen mit dem gemeinsamen virtuellen Arbeitsraum gewährleistet sein muss (z.B. wer editiert wo). Um die Entwicklung kollaborativer Echtzeitanwendungen effizient zu gestalten, wurde eine Generische Kollaborationsinfrastruktur (GKI) entwickelt. Diese GKI stellt sowohl eine Nebenläufigkeitskontrolle als auch Komponenten zur Nachvollziehbarkeit von nicht-lokalen Interaktionen auf eine wiederverwendbare und nicht-invasive Art und Weise zur Verfügung. In drei dedizierten Studien, die sowohl Entwickler als auch Endanwender umfassten, wurde die Entwicklungseffizienz der GKI nachgewiesen. Dabei wurde die Entwicklungszeit, der Umfang des Quelltextes als auch die Gebrauchstauglichkeit analysiert.

The purpose of the research is to propose and evaluate a methodology for implementing EDI to assist organisations in reaping the anticipated benefits. The research involved the systematic analysis of the state of the art of EDI and paradigms of methodologies, to define a model for the EDI implementation methodology, and to define criteria for evaluating such a model. The methodology was developed and modelled utilising the software process model, as adopted by Boehm (1988) and later duPlessis and van der Walt (1992), as a framework. Next a synthesis of the assimilated knowledge and brainstorming of project teams involved in EDI pilot projects, was used to systematically develop an EDI implementation methodology. The methodology was evaluated by utilising it in the implementation of EDI between two organisations, Computer Equipment Brokers (PTY) and Marksec (PTY). It was concluded that the methodology was efficient for implementing EDI. / Computing / M. Sc. (Information Systems)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:36:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Amauri Ramos1.pdf: 5520924 bytes, checksum: e26630274b4a50c9e7f79aa8dc49de04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-10-05 / The computers and the Internet in the universities and organisms of research have been shown as an element with potential for the dynamization of the construction, use and dissemination of the information for the collaborative work of the research groups. However, it is not evident the use of specialized information systems for support this modality of work. In this context , the present research has as objective analyze which is the effective use of information systems, appropriated to support to the collaborative work, by research groups for the accomplishment of its works in a collaborative way. As foundation to above-mentioned analysis, firstly attempts to present the concepts of collaborative work, research groups and Computer Supported Collaborative Work, that show basic for the best understanding of the virtues, deficiencies and implications that result of the use of such systems. As second stage of this work, attempting to collect enough information for the construction of the inferences that constructed its conclusions, questionnaires to the leaders of the registered research groups in the Directory of Groups of Research in Brazil of the Lattes Platform of CNPq were applied. / Os computadores e a Internet nas universidades e organismos de pesquisa t?m se mostrado um elemento com potencial para a dinamiza??o da constru??o, uso e dissemina??o da informa??o para o trabalho colaborativo dos grupos de pesquisa. Por?m, n?o ? evidente o uso de sistemas de informa??o especializados para apoiar essa modalidade de trabalho. Nesse cen?rio, a presente pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar qual ? a efetiva utiliza??o de sistemas de informa??o, pr?prios para o apoio ao trabalho colaborativo, por grupos de pesquisa para a realiza??o de seus trabalhos de forma colaborativa. Como alicerce ? analise supracitada, busca-se primeiramente apresentar os conceitos de trabalho colaborativo, grupos de pesquisa e Computer Supported Collaborative Work, que se mostram fundamentais para a melhor compreens?o das virtudes, defici?ncias e implica??es que resultam do uso de tais sistemas. Como segunda etapa deste trabalho, buscando coletar informa??es suficientes para a constru??o das infer?ncias que fomentaram suas conclus?es, foram aplicados question?rios aos l?deres dos grupos de pesquisa cadastrados no Diret?rio de Grupos de Pesquisa no Brasil da Plataforma Lattes do CNPq.