Internet-based collaboration in 2010

Imagine a common scene: a small group of people from different organizations meets and decides to engage in a cooperative project. These might be people working on a business deal, people sharing technical information, or a social group planning a future function. They decide to use the Internet to facilitate their interaction. What technology are they likely to use? E-mail is certainly available, but there is currently little else. The only other widely used collaboration technologies are AIM (AOL´s Instant Messenger service) and ICQ, which are quite useful but primarily for short interactions. They provide no tools for recording the interaction or connecting the communication with the users´ other files. Fortunately, coming developments will trigger dramatic changes in collaboration technology and systems. As 1999 ends, the author sees five technical developments that are laying the foundation for a radically different future for Internet based collaboration: security; bandwidth; voice and IP convergence; appliances and handheld devices; and wireless connections. Group interactions will take many forms. Within the next decade, the author expects to see widespread sharing of documents, sharing of real-time drawings on whiteboards, voice conferencing, and perhaps videoconferencing