Introduction: CO versus COU
In COmanage terminology, there has been some confusion regarding the difference between a Collaborative Organization (CO) and a Collaborative Organization Unit (COU). In short, a CO is the parent organization, and the COU are the departments, the wholly owned subsidiaries, the working groups covered to some extent by the policies and procedures of the CO. This is more than just a nested group concept, since this involves more than collections of people and roles. It is the concept of groups combined with workflows, assurance levels, the management of data and processes at different levels.
CO Definition
CO: A collection of people collaborating together with a common workflow for adding additional collaborators and with common policies for vetting the identities of collaborators. Virtual organizations are one possible form of Collaborative Organization. A CO provides the essential IT infrastructure supporting collaborations between people so that the traditional limitations of localized applications may be overcome.
COU Definition
COU: The COU is an optional construct to allow you to define a hierarchy within a CO. (e.g. a self-contained collection or department within a CO; a collection of privileges within a CO). The workflow for enrolling people may have details specific to a COU.
So, if you have the high-level understanding of common goals and common policies, and yet within that understanding you have some unique requirements that the different groups may require different paths to joining and participating in those groups, you have a CO that contains COU.
A CO versus a COU use case
LIGO is a virtual organization with a concrete goal (discovering gravitation waves) and specific large equipment (the detectors) to help reach that goal. LIGO, however, is not a uniform, flat organization. Within LIGO, there are several smaller organizations. These smaller organizations have specific needs regarding how new people join in their groups, and yet, these smaller organizations all have something in common - the parent organization of LIGO, where access to the equipment and the data is controlled, where agreements may be signed with new organizations wanting to be a part of (or a partner of) LIGO.
- intro a diagram of LIGO and its large component parts
- intro a diagram that shows (high level) how the different COU might have different enrollment processes