Virtual environments allow work to be done any time, anywhere - no longer bounded by time and space. Indeed, this novel environment allows for a new breed of information technology, targeted at coordinating group efforts, coupled with advanced facilitation techniques to achieve group goals. CMI has a long history in the development of collaborative components having conducted studies in distributed collaboration across campuses, between classrooms, and over seas. CMI's goal is to continue development of collaborative technologies in order to harness the opportunities that exist in distributed environments. Our efforts cross all layers of workgroup capability, within which team processes may be structured and enhanced.
Research is done to find where technology needs to be built and studied to support work practice.
CMI is currently investigating issues such as process management and interaction dynamics in virtual teams. Also within the realm of distributed collaboration, CMI performs analysis of collaborative use of data and information technology architectures, security in distributed teams and network management in distributed environments.