Collaborative Engineering: A Review of Organisational Forms for Implementation and Operation

Abstract

Abstract A review of organisational forms for implementation and operation of Collaborative Engineering following the Collaborative Engineering organizational and management models based on complexity and semiotics frameworks, is presented. These forms are mainly the forms of communities, which are intentionally created for the purpose of Collaborative engineering. The paper presents basic definitions of three types of communities: learning community, community of practice and open design as the organizational environments for Collaborative Engineering. These communities usually take forms of complex networks of independent designers, and usually uses advanced internet based environments and platforms for communication, sharing, dialog, learning and operation in general. In the second part, some examples of the internet based platforms for supporting the Collaborative engineering communities are presented.