A ubiquitous information environment (UIE) is an assemblage of interconnected technological elements that enables the mobility of computing and communication services. Ubiquitous computing has been triggered by dramatic developments in mobile and wireless communication technologies such as WAP, Bluetooth™ and 3G mobile phones as well as the continued miniaturization of chips and computing devices. Radically new types of computing devices and services will be offered and will result in ubiquitous computing services. Such ubiquitous devices and services will represent unprecedented opportunities to access, manipulate, and share information with others on the move; consequently, future systems will offer a rich set of computing and communication capabilities and services to employees.

Our main conjecture for the building of such environments in this decade is that the information and knowledge in the 21st Century organizations will be pervasive and nomadic. This is an outcome of the increasingly rich, diverse and ever-at-hand computing and the capability of emerging infrastructures to support both physical and social mobility. A knowledge worker's use of computing and communication services will not be centered on solitary moments at an office desk, but will extend to all walks of organizational life. In consequence, the ongoing experience of managing and organizing will involve multifaceted engagements with ubiquitous computing environment through a rich array of access devices including desktop computers, mobile communicators, digital assistants, wrist-watches, play-consoles and even clothing. These engagements will lead to the increased digitalization of all types of information, including new forms of information and service integration, and new any-time, any-place computing. These ubiquitous information environments, in turn, make possible new forms of organizing, communicating and working.

We see several compelling challenges in how to organize and implement next wave ubiquitous information environments:

  • How the physical and the digital will mesh in novel and intelligent ways in these environments;
  • How to design applications that can offer easy-to-use, efficient, robust and adaptable services over a number of different access technologies;
  • How different access technologies can be integrated and managed from user, organizational and technological points of view;
  • How technologies and services will be adopted, integrated and utilized by diverse individuals, teams and organizational groups
  • How to design virtual teams, organizations, business processes and management structures that can profitably deploy and draw upon the new information environment
  • How to design technologies that support self-organized collaborations among loosely-coupled entities originated in diverse technological, social, and cultural environments. How to provide the necessary structure and at the same time nurture emergent forms of organizing?
  • In spite of the inherent ephemeral arrangements associated with ubiquitous information environments, we ought to provide technologies that provide room and encourage respect to human values, interpersonal relationships, and a sense of organizational ownership.