Supporting on demand collaboration in web-based communities

The Internet has evolved into a ubiquitous communication medium which is used by web-based communities to exchange information and to access remote services. In this context, on demand collaboration is mainly offered on the basis of separately executed browser-based applications which are inherently limited to be used online while offering a user interface to server-side applications. In this paper, we propose the use of the On Demand Internet Computing System (ODIX) which enables the distributed deployment and dynamic composition of Java Rich Internet Applications. It eases the integrated use of multiple applications and provides the illusion of a pervasive application environment by synchronizing user profiles and application customization across distinct Internet computing devices. The features of the approach are outlined and its application to support collaborative knowledge management is illustrated.