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³Self managed teams are closely associated with the concept of employee
empowerment which entails the employee to have the requisite authority and
resources required by him to carry out his responsibilities. A self managed team
differs from a normal work team or group in one essential way that the processes
or the means to achieve the team goal are designed and decided by the team itself.
Given the stiff competition at the global level, all organizations have been forced
to focus on developing their human capital.´

They describe self managed teams as ³groups of employees who have the
responsibility and authority to manage the work they do. The typical
responsibilities of a self managed team are planning, scheduling, assigning
responsibilities among members, ensuring product quality, ordering material,
taking decisions and problem solving. The teams are also responsible for handling
their interpersonal issues within themselves and work without any direct
supervision. Self managed teams are responsible for an end product or a specific
deliverable. Knowledge sharing and extensive communication between members is
central to the working of any self managed team. Also, multi-skilling is a typical
characteristic of self managed teams.´
aut how are self managed teams really different from that of quality circles? ³Self
managed teams differ from other employee participation methods like quality
circles in the respect that unlike quality circles where the employees voluntary
come together to suggest or develop quality improvements, in self managed teams,
the entire work process is structured around team work, with the team taking
critical decisions. Also a quality circle may or may not be empowered by the upper
management but the empowerment is built into the very concept of self managed
teams. Self managed teams unlike quality circles are not managed by an external
supervisor, personnel manager, administrator or a quality manager but rather
facilitated by a team leader from within the team. He is either chosen by the team
members or appointed based on experience or skills.´

They also covered the topic of µWhy self-managed teams?¶ Apparently, ³when
employees are completely in-charge of their job it is likely to create a greater
interest and attachment to job. This also means that the managers can devote their
time in innovation and process improvement rather than monitoring the employees.
Also, since the employees are the front-liners, their tacit knowledge of even the
most miniscule aspect of the job is utilized when they are given the responsibility
of the quality and end result. As self managed teams require constant exchange of
information, it leads to breaking of communication barriers between groups of
employees. Other reported benefits of self-managed teams include: reduced
absenteeism, increased productivity and increased employee satisfaction.´



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You might ask yourself the question "Why do we need to go to a specific physical
place to work?".
The answer often is that either "this is where the people that you work with are" or
"that this is where you find the information you need as well as the means to
process it"- in summary where your office is.

aut what if you no longer had to go to this place to contact the people or get the
information? Instead all this could be done electronically and you and everyone
else would do their work from any location.
In that case you can have taken the first few steps to a virtual organization.


 

  
   
  
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It removes many barriers - especially that of time and location.

It emphasizes concentrating on new services and products, especially those with

intensive information and knowledge characteristics, rather than concentrating on
cost savings made possible by removing the barriers.

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     and is more flexible in:

þ? that it has continuously changing partners,

þ? the arrangements are loose and goal oriented,
þ? emphasizes the use of knowledge to create new products and services,
þ? its processes can change quickly by agreement of the partners.

Ö 
 
 
  

Often the steps here go through:

þ? outsourcing mainly to reduce costs where there is some experience in

working at a distance, but there is one dominant party and high certainty of
what everyone must do.
þ? ˜orming strategic alliances to share the work and gain experience in
developing and sharing common goals. Here there is no dominant party
although the parties are fixed. and
þ? Then becoming virtual organizations to achieve flexibility. Now the partners
themselves can quickly change, with greater emphasis on the use of
knowledge to create new and innovative products.

It is of course possible for only a part of an organization to become virtual. In that

case organizations can gradually evolve from real to virtual. Typical virtual
structures can include:


Here team roles are defined as needed and people are chosen
&
  
to fill the roles depending on their expertise.
&
  In this case laboratory participants can be experts from
j %

 anywhere, who are called to contribute to a project whenever
'( %

) particular expertise is needed.
Here office roles may be assigned to people who are only
&
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called upon to carry out office duties when needed.
Here the shop products can quickly change with different
&
 ‘
vendors becoming part of the virtual shopping center.
&
 
Here the entire organization is virtual.

  
In all cases virtual implies:

þ? àontinually changing membership of participants,

þ? Self-management within teams and units,
þ? Knowledge (not structure) oriented work.

Ö
 

What are the reasons for organizations becoming virtual? These include:

þ? Globalization, with growing trends to include global customers,

þ? Ability to quickly pool expert resources,
þ? àreation of communities of excellence,
þ? mapidly changing needs,
þ? Increasingly specialized products and services,
þ? Increasing required to use specialized knowledge

Ö
" 
 

In a virtual organization all places of work would be through communication using

computer workspaces. You can the go from electronic workplace to workplace to
see the activities that are taking place in the organization.

*!
 
 
 !
" 

Workplace structures must mirror the way that a virtual organization works.

 
! #!
 
  . To do this they
must support the organization's mission by developing and using information
consistently with the mission. Workspaces should make it easy to:
 þ? create new roles and assign people to them, change goals,
þ? add new documents,
þ? set up new communication links between people.

Typical structures include:

þ? A production system where there is a workplace for each production task. As

one task completes it activates the workplace for the next task. ait should be
possible to easily create a new task and provide a workspace for it.
þ? esign systems where people in a design can "meet" at an electronic
workspace to discuss coordination issues. They then go to their individual
workspaces to carry out their part of the design.





As organizations begin to embrace social tools to collaborate, connect workers
together, capture knowledge, and drive innovation they soon encounter a
phenomenon that they weren't necessarily expecting. As critical mass is achieved
and general participation rises, there is a subsequent, and often dramatic, increase
in the volume of information that is visible on the local intranet.
Now it should be clear that the intranet is often a depressingly static place even
today in many organizations. aut those applying Enterprise 2.0 (social, emergent,
freeform approaches to business activities) can soon find that the opposite is often
the case. The information captured and the knowledge shared in a social business
environment is usually globally visible and lasts long after the collaboration ends.
And this new information visibility is invariably a good thing. These ever
expanding and socially created "knowledge trails" form a deeply linked web of
information that continue to provide repeated value over time as they build up on
an organization's intranet.

This information explosion can be called as scenario the "first wave" of Enterprise
2.0. Most businesses today are just learning what this is, how large it will be, and
what it means for them. While business information used to be much more
localized and was frequently submerged in proprietary IT systems and databases,
the information generated by social business activities (both ad hoc and
intentionally designed) is much more externally and globally visible. This is the
concept of network effects by default, whereby any individual contribution
increases the knowledge of the whole organization, rather than just one person or
group of persons.
aut this can leave organizations awash in what is called exposed information, or
data that is visible but not necessarily immediately usable. Once active social
computing communities start generating shared knowledge, the act of browsing the
intranet or using enterprise search engines causes much more information to be
discovered, some of it relevant in the moment but most of it probably not.
There is a similar efficiency challenge with keeping track of frequently updated
and changing blog posts, wiki pages, forum discussions, and social network
activity streams. And this is why, out on the Web, solutions such as feeds and feed
reader were invented. In the enterprise space, one of the core patterns identified to
deal with this is something known as "signals", which are ways to efficiently pull
fresh changes in the information landscape to interested parties.
aut it's starting to become clear that signals aren't enough, especially as enterprise
data enters the equation. It often doesn't take long before important business data
gets copied or linked into Enterprise 2.0 environments leading to real master data
management issues. We also see both new open data approaches that access
previously submerged data repositories as well as the addition of social models to
existing enterprise applications (think Socialàalc.) The lesson: Social computing
actively drives data that's hidden in core IT out to the edge, where everyone that
needs it can get to it.
Ultimately, this will lead to an information explosion that enterprises will have to
figure out how to deal with. There may be at least three major phases, or waves, of
Enterprise 2.0 adoption when it comes to the rich tapestry of socially information
that is being created, managed, and consumed.
The Three Waves of Enterprise 2.0:
1st Wave: Information Explosion. Once workers have the ability to put information
on the intranet,change it, and engage in conversation, the amount of exposed
information on the local network will grow rapidly. Open data initiatives,
especially ones that are Web-oriented, will further increase the amount of data
accessible. At first this won't be a major problem, but as the entire organization
begins to change its habits and engage, the amount of information will climb until
it's difficult to deal with using existing capabilities, both at a worker level and at an
infrastructure level, such as search engine relevancy. At this point in the Enterprise
2.0 maturity curve, the growing information abundance will represent a significant
business advantage that can only be partially realized.
2nd Wave: Information ˜ilters. Organizations will move to adopt filters to reduce
the amount of exposed information on the network. That's not to say that it will be
removed or hidden, but it won't be as visible in things like search engines,
recommendation systems, or activity streams unless it's considered relevant.
Keyword analysis, tags and hash tags, and social recommendations are some
simple ways that filters like this can be applied today without additional
complexity or software. The next step, with capabilities like semantic search (such
as what Interix is looking at providing) is a good example of 2nd generation filters
that can provide even more leverage.
3rd Wave: Information Shadows. While filtering will help deal with the rapid
growth in exposed information volume on enterprise intranets, getting a deeper
understanding of what an enterprise really knows will require another level of
improvement in our ability to perceive deeply and strategically into the webs of
information that build up in social computing environments. This is part of the
emerging Web Squared discussion, which is pointing out some of the way forward
here. ˜or example, social analytics is part of this 3rd wave of maturity that will
give us an actionable view of the collective intelligence that builds up in
organizations that actively engage in Enterprise 2.0 activities. In the end, deriving
real business intelligence from the information that communities of workers,
partners, and even customers are creating is central to getting the full mOI of social
computing. ˜ortunately, some early solutions for this are just now starting to
emerge like àonondale¶s Enterprise 2.0 aI or IaM's new Smart Analytics àloud.
Organizations will likely go through these phases in discrete steps as the end result
drives epiphanies that make them move to the next wave. This will be because they
now understand the benefits of the next step or sometimes just out of sheer need.
Ultimately, the delta between the amount of exposed knowledge you have and the
work that is required to reach what you need will determine your consumption
efficiency in this new world of information abundance. It will therefore be the
measure of your ability to access business value with Enterprise 2.0.
aut as enterprise social computing clearly enters the mainstream this year,
understanding the impact information abundance will have on your organization is
essential to success.

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A network-based organization structure outsources business functions, harnesses
volunteer labor, and leverages information technology services and adopts a
minimalist model. Network-based organizations favor democratic decision making
that involves most members across the organizational structure.



+ ,

A network-based organization structure outsources a variety of tasks and business
functions for the purposes of cutting costs, maintaining a flexible infrastructure and
aiding in the scalability of the company. ˜or example, outsourcing specific tasks
overseas with lower labor costs may be advantageous for the company both in
terms of efficiencies and lowering operating expenses.

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,

Volunteer labor may also lower operating expenses with the added benefit of
harnessing social capital and proven talent for future projects. Volunteer labor can
be either professional or amateur in terms of scope and quality. User-generated
content is a form of volunteer labor defined within a virtual environment, where
volunteers may contribute content, perform tasks and/or improve a company's
services.
 j
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  ,

Network-based organization structures greatly benefit from information technology
services by leveraging communication capabilities that may be largely free, for
example: email, chatting services, voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP), a Web
presence, community forums and social media. Moreover, information technology
services provide an instant means of communicating, ensuring a rapid exchange of
vital information.
 
#  #,

Outsourcing tasks combined with leveraging information technologies and
volunteer labor allows for network-based organizations to significantly reduce
operating expenses to the bare minimum required for operating. ˜or example,
minimalist models employ just enough full-time workers to maintain essential
functions necessary for day-to-day operations.

   ",

aecause network-based organization structures usually involves volunteer labor, a

democratic decision-making environment usually follows. emocratic decision-
making environments hold votes based on a "majority rules" process where
everyone who contributed to a task participates. The result often enhances
innovation through the robust and free exchange of ideas.

As organizations restructure to respond to their environment, there has been a growing

recognition of the need for new kinds of organizational structure. The Networked
Organization is one such response. I






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  ,

þ? aeing closer to the customer - there is rapid communication between those at the
sharp-end and those who support them.
þ? Maximizing the knowledge potential of an enterprise; network members tap into
expertise wherever it may reside.
þ? Minimizing disruption; a network has resilience to operate even if some parts fail
(e.g. in a natural disaster).
þ? mesponsiveness and addictiveness. Like an amoeba, a network is sensitive to
stimuli and adjusts accordingly


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  ,

espite all the aPm (ausiness Process meengineering) and management change
programmes taking place, shifting a bureaucracy to a network is no easy task. Our
experience indicates a number of key principles to follow, particularly for the growing
number of organizations who employ knowledge workers:

1.? Teams are the organization units that create focus and allow work to proceed.
2.? The most productive work teams for many kinds of work, especially knowledge
work are small multi-disciplinary groups, e.g. 5-8 people with a variety of
backgrounds.
3.? Many 'meetings' are not productive for knowledge work - they are really
assemblies, gatherings, committees which may be used to pass information (often
ineffectively), motivate (or demotivate), provide a sense of importance. Their
most valuable use is creating and maintaining a sense of belonging, cohesion and
reinforcing values.
§.? Every knowledge worker should belong to at least two separate teams. This helps
the organization achieve cross functional co-operation; it helps the individual gain
a broader perspective.
5.? Every team must have a clear purpose if it is to act as a team and not as a
collection of individuals. Its must have its own vision, mission and goals which
reinforce those of its partners.
6.? Every team should develop a strong set of cultural norms and values. Hence
regular team meetings should take place.
7.? Each team should identify other teams carrying out related or dependent activities.
It should draw a network diagram showing
- itself (with its mission) at the centre
- an inner ring of teams (nodes) where interdependencies are high (formal
relationships)
- an outer ring of collaborative teams (mostly information sharing)
Where possible major activity sequencing should be shown (who provides what to
whom)
8.? Individual members of teams should be encouraged to maintain their personal and
professional networks, even beyond the identifiable needs of the current team.
9.? Some 'slack' should be built into the network. A certain amount of
duplication/overlap should not be viewed as bad. This slackness permits a higher
quality of output, plus a resilience to cope with the unexpected.
10.?Just as in electronic networks a set of protocols needs to be defined and agreed.
These may be implicit (common standards set by cultural values or 'like minded
people'). Often it needs to be made explicit what the various signals mean eg trial
balloon, idea, request for action, demand, vote, decision etc.
Appreciating the LEVEL of network dialogue is important. Is this communication
 within defined system boundaries or at a new meta-level?
MISàOMMUNIàATION is probably the worst obstacle any organization needs
to overcome.
11.?˜requent communication throughout the network (including outer ring) must be
encouraged. This is particularly valuable for half-baked ideas, tentative positions.
A small group developing its own 'final communiqué' does not foster the network
spirit.
12.?Also as in electronic communication NAK and 'NOE NOT mESPONING' are
important signals. If something has not registered, or some work is falling behind
then a signal to ripple round the network so the repercussions can be analyzed.
13.?Enabling technology is the most effective means of enhancing the quality of
network communication. Good use of email distribution lists and groupware such
as ˜irst àlass, Net Meeting or Lotus Notes characterizes the truly effective
network from the merely efficient.
1§.?˜ormal relationships (e.g. inner ring) are best cemented by having agreed written
processes (hand-offs) and/or common members on both teams. àritical linkages
need higher trust and openness rather than higher formality.
In a sequenced set of tasks this can be provided by a device known as cascading
teams.
15.?mecognize the unpredictability of the process for making decisions. Who makes
decision will often be ambiguous. In general, decisions should be made when and
where they need to be made, by whoever is appropriate. Types of decision which
are fundamental should be agreed up front, and simple formal processes
developed for these only.

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Knowledge structure refers to the manner in which a human organizes

knowledge with a given domain. mesearch has identified knowledge structure as
a determinant of the human ability to perform cognitive-oriented tasks. Yet
uncertainty still exists about how to improve an individual's cognitive task
performance through the controlled utilization of the individual's knowledge
structure. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the development of
individual's knowledge structure in a particular domain can be manipulated
through training. The experiment utilized the manufacturing domain of plastic
extrusion machine operation. Sixteen subjects, having no previous knowledge
of the domain, were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups.
Each of the experimental groups corresponded to a distinct training condition.
Over a three-day period, both training groups received the same instructional
content; however, the sequence in which the training material was presented
differed. One group initially received the abstract, conceptual relationships
between domain concepts, followed by more detailed relationships associated
with the lower level aspects of the domain. The other group received the
training material in the reverse order; i.e. the lower level information followed
by the abstract. Prior to and concluding the training sessions, each individual's
knowledge structure was assessed along two dimensions, hierarchical levels and
multiple relations, through a computer-based measurement technique.entitled
KSAT. The group which received the abstract relationships first showed
significant improvement following training along both dimensions of
knowledge structure. No significant changes in the knowledge structure
dimensions were found for the group which received the lower level
 relationships first. This study suggests that an individual's knowledge structure
can be manipulated through training, with a significant effect being attributed to
the training sequence of abstract material followed by the more detailed
material.

Empirical learning methods are the dominant

methods for supervised learning problems. aut these methods are dependent on
significant amount of training data and training time to perform well.
˜urthermore, It has been shown that learning algorithms simply refine the
knowledge provided through the inductive bias in the algorithm. So, a learner
only learns what it already knows with a better accuracy. Therefore, providing
more prior knowledge greatly improves performance. A learner¶s learned model
will also usually be much more comprehensible if the learner takes existing
knowledge into account.

-+‘+.---/.(j-

†?  00  
  
 . Instructors can post the course material or
important information on a course website, which means students can study at a
time and location they prefer and can obtain the study material very quickly
†?  . àomputer-based instruction can give instant feedback to
students and explain correct answers. Moreover, a computer is patient and non-
judgmental, which can give the employee motivation to continue learning.
According to James Kulik, who studies the effectiveness of computers used for
instruction, students usually learn more in less time when receiving computer-
based instruction and they like classes more and develop more positive attitudes
 toward computers in computer-based classes.] The American educator,
àassandra, researched and reported about the importance of locus of
control and successful academic performance and by the late 1980s, she wrote
of how important computer usage and information technology would become in
the higher education experience of the future.
†? Ö# 
  . Learning material can be used for long distance learning
and are accessible to a wider audience
†? 
# # !
. It is convenient for students to edit their written
work on word processors, which can, in turn, improve the quality of their
writing. According to some studies, the students are better at critiquing and
editing written work that is exchanged over a computer network with students
they know
†? ‘%1   #  
  
. Many different types of educational software
are designed and developed to help trainees or teenagers to learn specific
subjects. Examples include pre-training software, computer simulators, and
graphics software
†? A structure that is more amenable to measurement and improvement of
outcomes. With proper structuring it can become easier to monitor and maintain
student work while also quickly gauging modifications to the instruction
necessary to enhance employee learning.


 ‘/‘+jjÖ+..---/.(j-

These are the main steps which are kept in

view while training is provided in empirical domain.


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  is the tendency for different technological systems to
evolve towards performing similar tasks.
àonvergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and
telephony features), data (and productivity applications) and video that now share
resources and interact with each other, synergistically creating new efficiencies.
Today, we are surrounded by a multi-level convergent media world where all
modes of communication and information are continually reforming to adapt to the
enduring demands of technologies, ³changing the way we create, consume, learn
and interact with each other´.
àonvergence in this instance is defined as the interlinking of computing and other
information technologies, media content and communication networks that have
arisen as the result of the evolution and popularization of the Internet as well as the
activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space.
Many experts view this as simply being the tip of the iceberg, as all facets of
institutional activity and social life such as business, government, art, journalism,
health and education are increasingly being carried out in these digital media
spaces across a growing network of information and communication
technology devices.
Also included in this topic is the basis of computer networks, wherein many
different operating systems are able to communicate via different protocols. This
could be a prelude to artificial networks on the internet eventually leading to a
powerful super intelligence via a Technological singularity.
The rise of digital communication in the late 20th century made it possible for
media organizations (or individuals) to deliver text, audio and video material over
the same wired, wireless or fiber-optic connections. At the same time, it inspired
some media organizations to explore multimedia delivery of information. This
digital convergence of news media, in particular, was called "Mediamorphosis" by
researcher moger ˜idler, in his 1997 book by that name.
àonvergence of media occurs when multiple products come together to form one
product with the advantages of all of them, also known as the black box. This idea
of one technology, concocted by Jenkins, has become known more as a fallacy
because of the inability to actually put all technical pieces into one. ˜or example,
while people can have e-mail and internet on their phone, they still want full
computers with internet and e-mail in addition.
Media convergence is not just a technological shift or a technological process, it
also includes shifts within the industrial, cultural, and social paradigms that
encourage the consumer to seek out new information. àonvergence, simply put, is
how individual consumers interact with others on a social level and use various
media platforms to create new experiences, new forms of media and content that
connect us socially, and not just to other consumers, but to the corporate producers
of media in ways that have not been as readily accessible in the past.
However, convergence can have its downside. Particularly in their initial forms,
converged devices are frequently less functional and reliable than their component
parts (e.g. a V may perform better on a traditional V player than on a games
console). As the amount of functions in a single device escalates, the ability of that
device to serve its original function decreases.
OaJEàTIVES O˜ TEàHNOLOGIàAL àONVEmGENàE & MULTIMEIA
ENVImONMENT:-
V VISION TOWARD DEVIàE-FREE USER-àENTRIà MEDIA ENVIRONMENTS

In a modern nomadic life, the usage of media is not limited by spaces. New
interactive mobile devices like mobile phones, portable music players, PAs, and
Ma(igital Multimedia aroadcasting) devices extend the space where people
can access the multimedia contents. The concept of user-centric convergence will
provide freedom to a modern nomadic person without the requirement to carry a
range of mobile devices by providing personalized access to media regardless of
device types. It will extend personal media spaces for modern nomadic life by
removing spatial constraints in our daily activities.

To realize the user-centric convergence, technological advances in a wide range of

research domains need be achieved under the common vision. Europe has built its
excellence of research activities in the related domain followed by strong industrial
activities from world-leading companies. When it comes to the integration of those
achievements in a new concept of the convergence, research activities have been
separated by focusing on each individual issue without the global strategy of
convergence. True multidisciplinary knowledge is required to realize the
 innovative idea, which includes mobile networking, human-centered interface, and
multimedia content manipulation. INTEmMEIA aims to build a multidisciplinary
research society to develop a path towards the true innovation we are targeting.

INTEmMEIA will achieve the level of integration in two way approaches. The
most important activity of INTEmMEIA is developing and providing common
platforms to develop, test and integrate current and future achievements on related
technologies. The other approach is building a set of multidisciplinary research
groups for each major research elements.

2,(-‘. (- j‘(/j-. .‘.(*. /‘

INTEmMEIA focuses on creating a sustainable multi-disciplinary research

community with innovative vision of user-centric convergence. To provide the
technological vision towards the goal, the research group targets following major
research directions:

þ?   %-!
".

: The overall goal of this group
is to identify, develop and test a reference wireless ad-hoc architecture with
support for Quos, multimedia communications, digital rights management
(mM), and secure communications for heterogeneous devices in a home
environment. àonsidering that related issues in networking and mM are, in
general, a very challenging technical problem overall, we will target the
development of appropriate common solutions for body area networks, home
area networks and their interconnections by integrating state-of-the art
achievements in corresponding areas. The goal will be achieved with
collaborative integration of different technologies including personalized
interface and multimedia content management.

þ? #  ( #   # ‘

 .
 
: The
multimedia is presented to different devices for personal manipulation which
required adaptation of media to device or personal context along with seamless
presentation of the media for different devices. It can be also shared through
dynamic networks with other individuals, which requires a redesign of media
technology towards multi-way interactions. In the dynamic network environment
with user-centric convergence, the adaptation issues should be considered in an
integrated way, sharing interactive data, transferring semantic representation,
enhanced session mobility for different context and interaction model.
INTEmMEIA aims to pave a path toward a framework of user-centric
adaptation through the integration of related research achievements in different
disciplines.
þ? /
 # 
$  .
 
: At the interface level, our aim is to
facilitate the seamless interaction with multimedia across varying sets of devices.
We will thus investigate the integration of disparate interface developments,
across different paradigms such as mobile multimedia, wearable computing (on
the body interfaces), and ubiquitous computing (everywhere interfaces). These
have developed largely in separation but we will explore how they can be
integrated for provision of dynamic personalized interfaces. Our driver in this
research will be to provide a coherent user experience ± this means looking
beyond the technical aspects of providing interfaces across multiple devices to
integration at a µsemantic level¶ for provision of meaningfully adapted services.



3: aUILING A àOMMON PLAT˜OmM WITH A VISION TOWAmS

SEMANTIà àONVEmGENàE

The objective is to organize common research platforms to provide a framework

for the integrations of achievements from different disciplines under a the common
vision. The common research platforms will be an environment to share and
exchange achievements and develop common concepts. It will be carefully guided
and designed by the development of the common vision in order to integrate, test
and verify the concept developed inside the Network. Moreover, these platforms
are targeted to support wide range of research community for development of
technologies and visions on semantic convergence.

In this Network of Excellence, know-how of experts in each technological areas

will be brought together in order to analyze and investigate research actions
towards the goal in a concept of user-centric convergence of multimedia. The
major activities are focused not only in on achieving technical breakthrough, but
also on providing a vision of new technology through collaborative research
activities. INTEmMEIA aims to provide a common research vision toward this
premises in order to provoke necessary research activities in the European research
society to continue leading innovations in the related area. The concept evaluated
and developed in this Network of Excellences will be demonstrated through its
selected showcases on common home media environment.