Year
2007
Abstract
As part of its mandate, the Canadian Safeguards Support Program (CSSP) is responsible for providing assistance to the IAEA in knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer activities. To facilitate these activities, the CSSP has used various collaborative software tools. These tools are often referred to as “groupware” and most use some concept of a common workspace for the group members. The CSSP has deployed several pilot and demonstration projects using these tools. These projects have been described in papers presented by the authors at previous INMM meetings. Using Wikis as a Low-Cost Knowledge Sharing Tool (presented in 2005) documented a very successful application of wiki technology to training development. Similar tools such as blogs and bulletin boards have also been discussed. The successful deployment of some of these tools in pilot projects raises two questions: (i) Do these tools have wider applicability in organizations such as the IAEA? (ii) If a tool is to be deployed, should it be a commercial product or an open source product? The answer to the first question is yes, these tools could be used to great advantage elsewhere within the Agency. The answer to the second question is not as clear, and in this paper, the authors explore the pros and cons of both commercial and open source tools. The suggestions and conclusions in this paper will be of value to any organization considering deployment of collaborative software tools.