Contextual replication for mobile users

The classic tension between designing systems around thin client applications to facilitate controlling and sharing an enterprise´s information resources and thick client applications to avoid dependence on a centralized, potentially unreliable infrastructure has never been more prominent than in today´s mobile computing environments. Contextual replication can mitigate this tension by providing mobile users with the benefits of shared information managed according to well-defined business processes while accommodating the connectivity and interface limitations inherent in mobile devices. In the Cogenia system, a user´s changing information needs are anticipated by examining the user´s context, including his recent and upcoming appointments, business and personal contacts, current location, and important tasks. Personalized information is accessible on the user´s mobile device through the applications with which the user is already familiar. Utilizing active, two-way replication, changes made from a mobile device are propagated to other devices and other users that share this information.