The word ‘collaborate’ originates from the Latin word collabōrāt, which translates to ‘work together’. A fairly simple and broad concept, the norms of collaboration are ever-evolving and have taken great leaps in the wake of the twenty-first century. As globalization emanates and communication migrates ever more to the web, web collaboration becomes increasingly crucial.

The introduction of basic emailing services changed the landscape of collaboration by bridging the physical gap and transforming the norms of communication in the workplace. At the click of a button, information could be shared with colleagues across the world almost instantaneously. This capability effectively shrunk the world and directly catalyzed collaboration on a more international level.

But as communication evolved, the need for real-time solutions became a priority. Thus, consumer-based instant messaging was born and ushered into the international workplace. This tool enabled coworkers to communicate in real-time, increasing productivity and exposure. As the web developed, along with server capabilities, VoIP became an integral part of countless company platforms. The evolution of communication consequently led to video conferencing, file transferring platforms, etc.

These advances in technology and communication have fundamentally changed the way that we work, share and socialize. An immense portion of the global economy today is essentially a ‘collaboration economy’; one in which the main commodity is communicated information and ideas. As the global mobile worker population heads towards 1.19 billion by 2013, the tools with which we collaborate will advance at an incredible pace. In the following posts, we will outline what the growing demand for collaboration means for the tools we use and what needs to change.