Online Collaboration Technologies in Service of Global Good

Collaboration is a process during which individuals work together to achieve a certain goal. Online collaboration software connects people, encourages and establishes relations between employees, and creates trust between customers and companies while saving resources and working globally.

Going Green and Saving Money

All companies aim to improve business performance by lowering costs to improve profit. One of the ways to cut down on costs and use fewer resources is by working online. Environment protection comes as a huge plus during that process. Running a business virtually does not only save office expenses, but also office space and all of the energy that goes into that.

Online Collaboration Technologies in Service of Global Good

Business platforms are empowered with document managing, information storage, and communication tools shared among community members who can access them anytime, from anywhere. For instance, having employees who work from home means far less money for renting the office.

A company can have its headquarters in a smaller space and a conference or meeting room is not necessary. These days, as common option as video conferencing, makes holding a meeting much easier. Participants can be thousands miles away in different countries and time zones but they can see each other and have a business session. Not only are there no travel and staying costs, but almost no emissions. In addition, 67% of participants of online meetings said the quality of outcomes was the same or better than face-to-face meetings, according to Southern Cross University research which compared virtual meetings with to face-to-face meetings.

Did you know that the average professional photocopies a single document 19 times? Solely in the USA are an estimated 4 trillion paper documents growing at a rate of 22% per year. These are significant numbers in terms of trees cut for paper but also for paper storage space and office space.

Email has replaced paper memos or faxed communications and online document management will soon be widely adopted as a more efficient, more responsible way of managing business information. Collaborative technology enables communication using IM chats, wikis, blogs, calendaring, document management, and workflow automation which can be instantly reviewed by all team members and create the work process far more efficiently than ever before. The team can easily work together and reach joint decisions while sharing all the relevant information, stored in a unique database.

A collaboration platform is the new workplace where all the information and documents are stored and saved, easily accessible with minimal costs and maximal environment awareness.

In The Service of Humanity

Collaboration technology can do a lot for environment protection by saving resources but also by sharing information. In the modern world, information flow is crucial and collaboration platforms are intended for data sharing.

The Water Network is the leading online network for global water professionals which connects more then 10,000 experts from more than 180 countries. It is a global professional data base, with instant access to a great deal of information and renowned experts, open for comments and discussions. The focus of the network and its primary goal is safe water and sanitation for everyone. According to The World Economic Forum, in the Global Risk 2015 report, water crisis is the number one global risk based on impact to society. With 750 million people around the world who lack access to safe water, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF report, bringing together professionals who would be able to offer and provide solutions to insufficient water supply is of the utmost importance and calls for immediate reaction.

Collaboration is working together toward a common cause, and water supply for people around the world and environment protection are goals worth achieving. Technology is there to make collaboration easier, more efficient, greener, and global.

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