Social/Human Dimensions of Web Services

Abstract

This chapter presents some recent studies of the social and human dimension of Semantic Web services in the era of virtual organizations, focusing on the challenges, effects, and implications. The issues and results presented refer to the virtual organization known as the Virtual Research Laboratory for a Knowledge Community in Production (VRL-KCiP), Network of Excellence (NoE). In this chapter the authors analyze the risks arising from the modern communication process in this new form of organization, focusing in particular on the knowledge sharing process. Furthermore, they discuss the cultural aspects of managing a virtual organization that determine the efficiency of the knowledge management processes. The aim is to consider the challenges and the associated effect on developing Web services from the social/human perspective and to examine the impact on an organization’s cultural dimensions.