Collective Action and Information Technology: Stimulating Configuration of Intelligent Collectives

Communities of Practice (CoP) are appropriate settings for the emergence of intelligent collective spaces that are meant for interaction contexts. The case shown in this study exemplifies how the National Council of Internet Service Provider Entities (CONAPSI) has similar aspects to a CoP. This soon found a guiding purpose of analyzing how collective actions supported by information technology are characterized as inducing CoPs to become intelligent collectives. To support the case study, the theoretical foundation included definitions and characteristics of communities of practice, intelligent communities and information technologies that support groups. Research consisted of conducting document analysis of online discussion threads, treated with descriptive statistics, and interviews with Council representatives, interpreted using content analysis. Results demonstrate that the use of electronic discussion drives the emergence of virtual living spaces and consequently intelligent virtual communities.

实践社区（Communities of Practice，CoP）是催生智能集体空间的适宜场景，此类空间专为交互场景打造。本研究展示的案例证实，互联网服务提供商实体国家委员会（National Council of Internet Service Provider Entities，CONAPSI）具备与实践社区相似的特征。此项研究随即确立了核心研究导向：剖析信息技术支撑的集体行动具备何种特征，可推动实践社区演进为智能集体。为支撑本案例研究，研究的理论基础涵盖了实践社区、智能社区以及群组支撑信息技术的定义与核心特征。研究方法包括对在线讨论帖进行文档分析，并采用描述性统计方法开展数据处理；同时对委员会代表进行访谈，通过内容分析法解读访谈资料。研究结果显示，电子讨论工具的应用能够催生具有生命力的虚拟互动空间，进而形成智能虚拟社区。