Collaborative Support System Research Articles

A Constraint Based Decision Support System for Deadlocks Resolution in Collaborative New Product Design

In this paper we are considering that the product modelling step of a new product design process can be represented as a CSP (Constraint Satisfaction Problem). CSP modelling and resolution has proved its efficiency within the framework of single-designer design. We propose to extend the functions of CSP to the context of multi-designers. We have recently defined CoCSP as Cooperative Constraint Satisfaction Problem including the actors of the design problem. We present the operating principles of a new algorithm to solve the deadlocks appearing between constraints in a new product modelling process. Our reasoning is based on a model described in the form of a CoCSP. At each step, the algorithm generates the sets of consistent decisions, maximizing their cardinality. The algorithm forms the core of a prototype for an unsupervised, generic constraint-based collaborative decision support system. The work is illustrated by the example of a car engine collaborative modelling process.

Development of Collaborative Learning Support System enabling Students to Change Roles and to Share Experiences

Development of Collaborative Learning Support System enabling Students to Change Roles and to Share Experiences

A collaborative decision support framework for managing the evolution of virtual enterprises

During the operation phase of a virtual enterprise (VE) different kinds of unexpected problems usually take place and they should be properly handled in order to keep the VE goals. However, the nature of a VE imposes new requirements as decisions should be taken in a distributed and decentralised manner due to members’ autonomy and independence. Besides quality, agility in the decision-making is a must to guarantee success. For that, this paper presents a framework that provides a supporting methodology for guiding VE members along the diverse steps in the problem resolution, including assistance in their discussion. The framework relies on Business Process Management (BPM) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) approaches, and the methodology on project management reference models (focused on changes management). A discussion about the problem is driven by a semi-automated protocol conducted by a Distributed Collaborative Decision Support System for the Management of VE Evolution (DSS-VE). The protocol delineates a sequence of steps to be taken but is flexible to cope with partners’ heterogeneity and VE uniqueness. The impact of decisions can be evaluated via a distributed toolbox, containing a set of techniques for performance measurement and evaluation analysis.

Collaborative Decision-making Support System to Enhance Competencies within Enterprise Networks

This paper presents a decision support system to facilitate the collaborative management of enterprise competencies, in the context of company networks. By hypothesis, this research focuses on the development of similar proficiencies within long term stable networks. The decision procedure is based on a comparison among alternative competence development action plans. Enterprise competencies are described using fuzzy subsets and a multi-criteria decision aid method is employed. This approach is applied to a SME network, in the area of the software industry.

Prescriptive Workflow Design for Collaboration-intensive Processes using the Collaboration Engineering Approach

Modern organizations are investing in organizational process coordination tools such as collaboration support systems and workflow management systems for better decision-making and business process execution. However, these systems are deployed in a standalone manner with the result that business processes that span these systems are highly fragmented. Work processes are designed and managed independently for each system, resulting in large administration overheads to coordinate activities in business processes that use these systems. Lack of a structured approach to modeling and designing collaborative work processes has been attributed as a primary reason for this disconnect. In this regard, this paper reports on the advances in the area of Collaboration Engineering and its applicability in designing collaborative workflows that can lead to a unified approach for designing organizational processes consisting of interleaved individual and collaborative tasks. The paper also motivates the need for an interface between the workflow activities and the more detailed collaboration support prescriptions.

Interoperability in Web-Based Geospatial Applications

This paper characterizes the requirements of geographic information systems (GIS) middleware and its components for dynamic registering and discovering of spatial services specifically for collaborative modeling in environmental planning. The paper explores the role of Web services with respect to implementation standard and protocols and identifies implementation features for exposing distributed GIS business logic and components via Web services. In particular, the paper illustrates applications of the interoperability specifications of Open GIS Consortium’s (OGC) Web mapping service and (WMS), Web processing standards (WPS) with respect to implementation feature. The paper demonstrates a prototype implementation of collaborative environmental decision support systems (GEO-ELCA- Exploratory Land Use Change Assessment) where Web service-enabled middleware adds core functionality to a Web mapping service. The application demonstrates how individual workspace-based namespaces can be used to perform Web mapping functionality.

Accessible Collaborative Community Exercise Support System (ACCESS).

To provide effective self management support, The Scarborough Community Diabetes Program (SCDP) was challenged to implement a patient-centered and practical exercise component into our existing diabetes education program. By collaborating with an established diabetes rehab exercise program, the Toronto Rehab Diabetes Exercise and Healthy Lifestyle Program (DEHLP) and adapting their ideas to our clients' needs, we developed a community based excrcise program referred to as ACCESS, (Accessible Collaborative Community Exercise Support System.) Through this collaboration, significant barriers to exercise were diminished resulting in an affordable and accessible exercise program being introduced in our community.

Collaboration Support System Based on Assessment of Created Ideas Using Data Envelopment Analysis

This paper focuses on the creative aspects of collaboration and proposes a method for analyzing created ideas to help designers to enhance designers' creativity during collaborative design projects. The proposed method is based on DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis), analyses ideas created by designers to reveal characteristics and overall effectiveness of each idea, interrelationship between ideas and potentially fruitful directions for improvement of created ideas and exploration of new ideas and aims to help designers explore more sophisticated ideas. To enable smooth collaboration when using the proposed analysis method, this paper also proposes a computerized support system. This system is based on a combination of the analysis method proposed here, and the method for visualizing interactive communication processes proposed in our previous work. Analyzing system analyzes created ideas and visualizes the results from the multiple viewpoints, whereas visualizing system records interactive communication processes among designers and visualizes them in an easy-to-understand way.

Social intelligence design: a junction between engineering and social sciences

This special issue of AI and Society contains a selection of papers presented at the 5th International Workshop of Social Intelligence Design held at Osaka University Nakanoshima Center, Osaka, Japan, in March 2006. Nishida (2001) defined social intelligence design (SID) as a research field attempts to integrate understanding and designing social intelligence. On the one hand, it involves engineering approaches concerning design and implementation of systems and environments, ranging from group/team oriented collaboration support systems that facilitate common ground building, goal-oriented interaction among participants, to community support systems that support large-scale onlinediscussion. On the other hand, it involves scientific approaches addressing cognitive and social psychological understanding of social intelligence, and provides a means for predicting and evaluating the effect of a given communication medium on the nature of discussions, interaction dynamics, and conclusions. In addition, it encompasses pragmatic considerations from economy, sociology, ethics and many other disciplines, for social intelligence design has a direct relation with the society. The engineering and analytical approaches are complementary to each other and

EVALUATION AND APPLICATION OF CREATIVITY COLLABORATION SUPPORT SYSTEM GUNGEN DX II FOR CONSENSUS-BUILDING AMONG USERS

We have developed a creativity collaboration support system, called GUNGEN, which supports the KJ method. The KJ method is one of the popular idea generation methods in Japan, like brainstorming. This method consists of four steps: entering ideas, grouping ideas, structuring groups, and writing composition. We have used about one hundred idea labels in the experiments. Several hundred labels are optimal to improve the results of the KJ method. However, long time is necessary to group more labels. Therefore, we have developed GUNGEN DX II for several hundred labels. GUNGEN DX II has a special function to group labels easily and efficiently. The feature for grouping labels is to restrict time and to operate easily. The function generates islands from the common parts of each user's groups automatically by majority decision. We have carried out the KJ method and compared it with the previous system. Even if the number of labels increased, the time required to group labels decreased by about 30%.

Constructing Web-Based Object-Oriented Design Support System for Collaborative Ship Modeling

Multidiscipline three-dimensional (3D) design tools are utilized by most advanced shipyards in the world to gain both competitive advantage and productivity. While deadlines become shorter and shorter, the complexity of modern commercial vessels increases steadily; therefore, it is imperative for the marine industry to integrate diverse engineering information systems. 3D models are repetitiously constructed mainly because specified requirements on different design stages are time-consuming. In order to supersede costly point-to-point integration or system-specific integration that have been used, much attention has been paid to develop the advanced and open platform to not only codevelop parts by designers at different geographical locations, coordinate dissimilar applications and application components, but facilitate connectivity and the overall communication process to provide the end user with integrated and consistent data. This paper describes the object-oriented data-sharing collaborative design support system (DSS). DSS is proposed to speed up the construction of 3D models by the Internet technologies to translate product data and further be capable of providing reasonable model configurations of XML descriptions and sharing Web Services on the Internet to comply with shipyards' specific strategies.

CoDesign Space: a collaborative design support system in a network environment

In order to satisfy the various applicational requirements in a network environment, a multi-mode collaborative design method is proposed. Based on XML and VRML technology, the implement method of product data sharing and integration is also discussed. A general type net-based collaborative product design support system called CoDesign Space is designed, and the system architecture and realization method are presented. The CoDesign Space system has a flexible and extendable three-tier B/S architecture. Meanwhile, the system can satisfy the requirements of geographically dispersed collaborative design in many ways by integrating several collaborative design support tools that can be used independently.

Intelligent Work-Study Support Based on Interactive Web Guide

Advances in the Internet have enabled the dissemination of many types of e-learning in assisted education. We propose a collaborative learning support system (CLSS) for studying in the classroom and off-campus. Users study cultural and historical sites through a field trip using our system and cellphones. We report the results of learning based on experience and study using online Web-based authoring support overcoming the limitations of conventional Web page authoring support making it difficult for learners to make web pages. We propose a Web-pamphlet making support system (WPASS) as a CLSS subsystem in which users easily construct and edit their study notes. The WPASS provide services to edit Web pages via a browser and enables teachers to advise learners thorough these pages. We discuss the advantages and effectiveness of our proposal, which supports making a Web guide for users in experienced learning, making and editing Web pages in real time and write about their experiences using cellphones. CLSS has the advantages of enabling (1) beginners to become experienced in PC use, (2) users to make Web guides for their activities, (3) mentors to give appropriate Web guidance, (4) users to learn and discuss the ethics of using cellphones in public, (5) users to keep long-term records of activities.

Collaborative Water Resource Decision Support: Results of a Field Experiment

This article presents results of an empirical study about the use of a group-based geographic information system (GIS), called WaterGroup, developed as a collaborative spatial decision support system. WaterGroup was designed to enable stakeholder groups to participate in the solution of conjunctive water resource administration decision problems being addressed by the Idaho Department of Water Resources in the Boise River Basin of southwestern Idaho. The decision situation, software development, and empirical investigation are described within the context of other research activities/literatures related to group/community/public geographic information systems, helping us sort through the burgeoning terminology of this continually emerging field. We used Enhanced Adaptive Structuration Theory 2 to motivate research questions investigated by way of a field experiment research design. Decision process is characterized in terms of human-computer-human interaction coding. We used a technique called “interaction coding” to compile three streams of data from videotapes as a record of interaction in two stakeholder-oriented decision workshops. Coded data are examined using nonparametric, exploratory sequential data analysis. Additionally, we used questionnaires to gather data regarding participant perceptions of WaterGroup and the decision process. The findings of this study indicate that different technology configurations foster a different balance between analytic and deliberative activities within phases of a conjunctive administration decision process. A low-technology, chauffeur-driven configuration in a phase encourages more deliberation, and a medium-technology, participant-driven configuration in a phase encourages more analysis. We discuss the findings and their implications for group-based GIS decision support. This article will be of interest to researchers involved in group-based GIS decision support software design, in empirical studies of stakeholder group-based decision support, and facilitators desiring to gain deeper insight into field settings involving group-based GIS decision support.

Collaborative Online Examinations: Impacts on Interaction, Learning, and Student Satisfaction

This paper presents the results of a field experiment on online examinations facilitated by collaboration support systems. In particular, it examines collaborative learning and virtual teams through online examinations as an assessment procedure, compared to traditional examinations. Assessment is increasingly regarded as an important part of the learning process. Applying constructivism and collaborative-learning theories, the collaborative examination process features students' active participation in various phases of the exam process through small group activities online. A 1 times 3 field experiment evaluated the collaborative online exam compared with the traditional in-class exam, and the participatory exam, where students participated in the online exam processes without groups. Data analysis using results from 485 students indicates that collaborative examinations significantly enhance interactions and the sense of an online learning community and result in significantly higher levels of perceived learning

Design Considerations and Evaluation of a Collaborative, Spatio-Temporal Decision Support System

Collaborative spatial decision support systems (C-SDSS) have been used to help groups of stakeholders understand data and search for opportunities at resolving local and regional decision problems in various domains including land use, trans- portation, and water resources. The key issue in designing an effective C-SDSS is the anticipation of user information needs. Knowledge of user information needs can guide system designers in achieving a C-SDSS that fits the decision process. In this paper we present a design approach that is informed by stakeholder concerns, as part of a user needs assessment. The approach is based on the premise that knowing stakeholders’ concerns can help anticipate user information needs and consequently lead to a more usable C-SDSS. We demonstrate the approach with the example of a spatio-temporal decision problem involving conjunctive water administration in the Boise River Basin in southwestern Idaho. The spatial dimension of the decision task involves delineating the areas of conjunctive water administration while the temporal dimension involves selecting the year in which a given area will start to be administered. We show how the elicitation of stakeholder concerns leads to functional specification of a collaborative spatio-temporal decision support system.

Special Issue on Collaboration Support Systems

Special Issue on Collaboration Support Systems

分散型設計コラボレーションにおけるインタラクションの活性化に関する研究

This paper describes support environment for architectural design collaboration between distributed members. Collaboration projects via Internet have been held between educational institutions due to emergence of Internet and computer technologies. Our research group has carried out eight projects since 1996, and has developed typical collaboration support systems effectively to access to database of design information, to share design process, to teach architecture. In this paper, the authors focus on activating member's interaction, discuss its importance for creative process, and develop two support systems, both of which enhance the awareness in asynchronous communication. One named AMPIS is for accelerating interaction by using Internet connected mobile phone. Another promotes "remarking on design idea each other" by adding Tag-label metaphor interface to Digital Design Pinup Board. From analysis of logged data of case study projects (DCW2001, 2003) and survey, the authors clear performance of proposed systems as followings; 1) AMPIS effects controlling response-time of member's interaction and facilitating information exchange in asynchronous group work, 2) Tag-label interface promotes exchanging opinions and provides awareness toward context of design ideas or discussion.

SHARING DRUG DATA

WILLIAM GIBSON, THE SCIence fiction writer, once wrote that the future is already here— it just isn't very evenly distributed yet. This is the kind of idea that information technology (IT) companies readily embrace. Mike Svinte, vice president for marketing and business development at IBM Life Sciences, says he likes Gibson's notion because it suggests a handful of isolated IT trendsetters whose efforts give us a window onto the future of the state of the art. He points to IBM clients, such as the Mayo Clinic and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, that are forging the kind of collaborative research support systems that he says will underpin drug discovery in the era of personalized medicine—the genomicsdriven effort to target medications to specific populations or even individual patients. But if the future of IT for drug and health care organizations is unevenly distributed, the information that needs to be harnessed, vetted, and ...

Tradition and technology: teaching rural medicine using an internet discussion board

The aim of the Rural Medicine Rotation (RMR) at the University of Queensland is to give all third year medical students exposure to, and an understanding of, clinical practice in Australian rural or remote locations. Because the primary role of the Rural Clinical School is to improve medical recruitment and retention in rural areas, the provision of positive student learning experiences and subsequent ability to make adequately informed rural career choices is of fundamental importance. A difficulty in achieving this is the relatively short period of student clinical placements, in only one or two rural or remote locations. A web-based Clinical Discussion Board (CDB) has been introduced to address this problem by allowing students at all clinical sites to discuss their rural experiences and clinical issues with each other. The rationale behind the CDB is to encourage an enhanced understanding of the breadth and depth of rural medicine through peer-based learning. All third year students undertaking the RMR are required to submit a minimum of two original contributions, on any clinically related topic, and two replies to other submissions on the CDB. At the end of their 8 week rotation, the students evaluate the CDB by answering a short survey that focuses on the ease of use and access and the educational value of the CDB. A question regarding the influence of the RMR on their interest in pursuing a rural medicine career is also asked. The CDB transcripts are further analysed for type of article posted, category of medicine that was discussed and the specific topic under discussion. This article reports on the results from the first two RMR of 2005. A total of 83 third year medical students undergoing an 8 week rural rotation posted a total of 819 responses on the CDB. This resulted in 217 individual articles or topics discussed within 12 broad medical categories. The student ratings of the ease of use and access of the CDB were high, as were their ratings of its educational value and its potential to increase knowledge of rural medicine. Likewise, the majority of students felt the RMR increased their interest in rural medicine. The CDB offers a unique way to understand the concerns and interests of third year medical students immersed in their RMR. It highlights the issues they need to discuss with their peers, and offers the potential to guide future curriculum changes in response to identified needs. A major advantage of the CDB is its ability to enable all students to access a wide variety of rural practice experiences by sharing ideas and strategies they encounter. Likewise, the CBD encourages the development of deep reflective patterns of learning through a peer-based process. Equally important is the potential for building professional networks, interpersonal relationships, teamwork, collaboration and collegial support systems. These networks and relationships are essential for rural medicine to help alleviate the possible isolation recognised in rural life.