Distinguished
Speaker Series

HISTORY

The issues surrounding collaboration are sufficiently complex that no single academic discipline and no single epistemological perspective can encompass them.  The Institute for Collaboration Science was formed in July, 2006 with funding from a UNO CBA alumnus, Steve Wild, and a grant from the University of Nebraska Foundation.   Among the Institute’s founding members are 12 faculty members from all six colleges, who seek to bring their diversity of knowledge to bear on improving collaboration for organizations in Omaha and the nation at large. 

UNO & COLLABORATION

The University of Nebraska at Omaha is an internationally recognized thought leader in Collaboration Science research, which is now the subject of growing academic enquiry worldwide.  In the summer of 2004, eighteen of the world’s leading collaboration researchers from the USA, Europe, and Asia gathered in Omaha to give structure to this newly emerging field.  Among them:  University of Arizona and Brigham Young University, respected for breakthroughs in collaboration technology; University of Southern California well known for work on Theory W management and Win-Win Negotiation and collaborative software engineering; Kepler University in Austria and Delft University in the Netherlands, renowned for their applied science approach to collaboration.  The results of that workshop gave rise to a number of book chapters, conference papers, and journal articles that defined the field and began scientific enquiring into its most pressing questions.   While most of the university who participated in this landmark workshop have begun to offer one-off courses in some aspect of collaboration, none has plans for the comprehensive approach to Collaboration Science planned by University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Institute for Collaboration Science. 

INSTITUTE MISSION

The Institute has a three part mission:  To develop, validate and publish theoretical foundations for collaboration-related phenomena; to help organizations in Omaha and the nation apply these standings to make a difference that matters, and to teach collaboration concepts to undergraduates, graduates, and organizational leaders.  Progress toward achieving this mission is already under way.