[p2p-research] Challenging Groupware, February 12, 2008

[John Postill]

Challenging Groupware: Emerging configurations for distributed Interaction

February 12, 2008
Commonwealth Club, London, UK

2008 marks the 20th anniversary of Johansen's book which popularised the term
Groupware. Over this time we have seen a substantial body of studies of, and
systems supporting, distributed collaboration. One result is that 'loosely
coupled' asynchronous and semi-synchronous distributed interaction is now
commonplace. However significant challenges remain in supporting
tightly-coupled activities between remote groups of people. Studies continue
to
demonstrate a range of problems that arise in interaction over systems
designed
for distributed 'group' collaboration and such interaction falls well short
of
the richness to be found in everyday, face-to-face settings.
These issues and concerns become increasingly important in the context of
social
and organisational developments, such as the emergence of global firms and
scientific collaboratories. To pursue these issues the colloquium draws
together
a collection of international experts to consider two interrelated themes:
(i)
developments in the study of interaction and co-participation amongst
distributed groups and (ii) advances in the configuration of interfaces and
systems to provide richer support for inter-group collaboration.

Speakers will include:
- Kenton O'Hara, Hewlett Packard Labs (UK)
- Gloria Mark, University of California, Irivine (USA)
- Roger Slack, Bangor University (UK)
- Tony Tang, University of British Columbia (Canada)
- Mike Fraser, University of Bristol (UK)

Admission: Free

If you would like to attend this event, please email: dylan.tutt at kcl.ac.uk 

(Sponsored by the MiMeG Research Node of the UK ESRC National Centre of
e-Social
Science)