E-professional
Encyclopedia
E-professional or "eprofessional" or even "eProfessional" is a term used in Europe
to describe a professional whose work relies on concepts of telework or telecommuting
: working at a distance using information
and communication technologies, as well as online Collaboration
(i.e. Virtual team
, Mass collaboration
, Massively distributed collaboration), online community of practice
such as the Open source
community, and Open innovation
principles.
The concept of eprofessional, strongly related to the concept of ework, extends the traditional concept of professional
in including any type of expert or knowledge worker
intensively using ICT (Information and Communications Technology) environments and tools in their working practices. An eprofessional can be either an independent worker or an employed worker but he is at the same time a member of at least one community of practice
which confers him the title of professional. Being an eProfessional is not a profession of its own, but it exists in combination with a business profession such as consultant, engineer, journalist, scientist etc. An eprofessional is not working in isolation but actively collaborating with other eprofessionals within virtual workspaces. Altogether a group of eprofessionals carries on his collaborative work through the use of Collaborative Working Environments (CWE).
providing the capabilities to share informationand exchange views in order to reach a common understanding. Such a level of common understanding is enabling an effective and efficient collaboration among different expertises.
These technologies enable an eProfessional being part of groups and communities as well as knowledge networks, and being involved in distributed cooperation processes that have not been possible before.
An eProfessional:
eProfessionals are both a result of new flexible business models and also the necessary pre-requisite for their implementation. A collaboration environment that can adequately support the needs of an eProfessional must provide services on demand, based on the flexible work tasks of the user. Overall, the high level benefit of 'incubating' the ideal eProfessional environment will effectively foster a distributed intelligence model. Of course a challenge to reach this state would be to ensure a unilateral mindset and collaboration environment that allows one to focus on the initiative in general. All of this can be linked to concepts of Swarm Intelligence
.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to describe a professional whose work relies on concepts of telework or telecommuting
Telecommuting
Telecommuting or telework is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links...
: working at a distance using information
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and communication technologies, as well as online Collaboration
Collaboration
Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...
(i.e. Virtual team
Virtual team
A virtual team is a group of individuals who work across time, space and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technology...
, Mass collaboration
Mass collaboration
Mass collaboration is a form of collective action that occurs when large numbers of people work independently on a single project, often modular in its nature...
, Massively distributed collaboration), online community of practice
Community of practice
A community of practice is, according to cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. The group can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created...
such as the Open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
community, and Open innovation
Open Innovation
Although the idea and discussion about some consequences date back at least to the 60s, open innovation is a term promoted by Henry Chesbrough, a professor and executive director at the Center for Open Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, in his book Open Innovation: The new...
principles.
The concept of eprofessional, strongly related to the concept of ework, extends the traditional concept of professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
in including any type of expert or knowledge worker
Knowledge worker
Knowledge workers in today's workforce are individuals who are valued for their ability to act and communicate with knowledge within a specific subject area. They will often advance the overall understanding of that subject through focused analysis, design and/or development. They use research...
intensively using ICT (Information and Communications Technology) environments and tools in their working practices. An eprofessional can be either an independent worker or an employed worker but he is at the same time a member of at least one community of practice
Community of practice
A community of practice is, according to cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. The group can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created...
which confers him the title of professional. Being an eProfessional is not a profession of its own, but it exists in combination with a business profession such as consultant, engineer, journalist, scientist etc. An eprofessional is not working in isolation but actively collaborating with other eprofessionals within virtual workspaces. Altogether a group of eprofessionals carries on his collaborative work through the use of Collaborative Working Environments (CWE).
eProfessionals and their working environments
Working practices are evolving from traditional proximity or geographical collocation paradigm to virtual collocation paradigm where experts (professionals) have to work together whatever is the geographical location of everyone involved. In this context, eprofessionals are using a Collaborative Working EnvironmentCollaborative Working Environment
A collaborative working environment supports people in their individual and cooperative work. Research in CWE involves organisational, technical, and social issues....
providing the capabilities to share informationand exchange views in order to reach a common understanding. Such a level of common understanding is enabling an effective and efficient collaboration among different expertises.
These technologies enable an eProfessional being part of groups and communities as well as knowledge networks, and being involved in distributed cooperation processes that have not been possible before.
An eProfessional:
- Is linked to a normal organisation by employment, but may also act in a self-employed way. The work is often performed at mobile workplace.
- Is involved in many different projects within groups, communities, projects, and with external partners in different organisations. Often these projects are constructed around highly complex and creative tasks that require a high coordination effort. The problems to be solved appear suddenly and require access to information/knowledge not known before. Thus, tasks and processes can not be anticipated or planned beforehand. They are of different length and complexity, involving different support tools.
- Requires the availability of the workplace in different situations, locations and places and the ad hoc availability of a cooperation environment.
- Requires support for the ad hoc identification of other eProfessionals based on similar interest and complementary knowledge. Tasks can be solved only gathering and relying on information from different sources (data and people)
- Requires the dynamic ad hoc creation of collaboration with different people and groups
eProfessionals are both a result of new flexible business models and also the necessary pre-requisite for their implementation. A collaboration environment that can adequately support the needs of an eProfessional must provide services on demand, based on the flexible work tasks of the user. Overall, the high level benefit of 'incubating' the ideal eProfessional environment will effectively foster a distributed intelligence model. Of course a challenge to reach this state would be to ensure a unilateral mindset and collaboration environment that allows one to focus on the initiative in general. All of this can be linked to concepts of Swarm Intelligence
Swarm intelligence
Swarm intelligence is the collective behaviour of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial. The concept is employed in work on artificial intelligence...
.
Related areas
- CollaborationCollaborationCollaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...
- Collaborative Working EnvironmentCollaborative Working EnvironmentA collaborative working environment supports people in their individual and cooperative work. Research in CWE involves organisational, technical, and social issues....
- communications technology
- community of practiceCommunity of practiceA community of practice is, according to cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. The group can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created...
- CSCW
- E-Work
- expert
- knowledge workerKnowledge workerKnowledge workers in today's workforce are individuals who are valued for their ability to act and communicate with knowledge within a specific subject area. They will often advance the overall understanding of that subject through focused analysis, design and/or development. They use research...
- Mass collaborationMass collaborationMass collaboration is a form of collective action that occurs when large numbers of people work independently on a single project, often modular in its nature...
- Massively distributed collaboration
- Open innovationOpen InnovationAlthough the idea and discussion about some consequences date back at least to the 60s, open innovation is a term promoted by Henry Chesbrough, a professor and executive director at the Center for Open Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, in his book Open Innovation: The new...
- Open sourceOpen sourceThe term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
- professionalProfessionalA professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
- Swarm IntelligenceSwarm intelligenceSwarm intelligence is the collective behaviour of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial. The concept is employed in work on artificial intelligence...
- TelecommutingTelecommutingTelecommuting or telework is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links...
- Telework
- Virtual teamVirtual teamA virtual team is a group of individuals who work across time, space and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technology...
- WikinomicsWikinomicsWikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything is a book by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, first published in December 2006. It explores how some companies in the early 21st century have used mass collaboration and open-source technology, such as wikis, to be successful...