Web 2.0 technologies and workplace paradigms to enable e-professional workstyles

This paper explores current and emerging trends in collaborative working and investigates the role of Web 2.0 technologies in establishing networked forms of collaboration across organisational boundaries. The emerging Web 2.0 enabled workplace model recognizes that people are engaged in different tasks to be carried out in parallel, and are part of multiple projects, teams and even organizations. The new forms of collaborative networks enable people and their business environment to increase their productivity and leverage the creative potential of working collaboratively. In particular we explore the domain of managing complex projects. Based on examples of emerging forms of collaborative networks as well as case studies in actual collaborative work processes, we envisage new models of person-based collaboration and study the way they are embedded in organizational networks. The paper concludes in discussing open problems and proposing research themes in the area of networked collaboration of professionals.