AI workflow management in a collaborative environment

Collaborative environments allow geographically distributed groups to work together to generate new knowledge. These systems contain many tools to facilitate collaboration, including workflow management systems (WfMS). WfMS allow multiple agents to work towards achieving a common goal by enabling communication between them. This paper presents a brief overview of collaborative environments in general, and then discusses the distinctive characteristics of current WfMS. We consider the utility of using techniques employed in next-generation grid-based WfMS in collaborative systems that are available today. Specifically, the idea of constructing workflows by applying artificial intelligence planning techniques to a user-specified goal is explored