Collaboration in Risk Markets - Collaborative Technologies and Applications for Interactive Information Design - page 197

Figure 8. Filter Widget in which a user clicks on
groups or users to narrow information display

cial crisis would have transpired. Because there
are fewer brokerage layers, and clearer roles, the
transparency of transactions would increase. Or-
ganizations trading with peers have better market
knowledge because they know the sellers, which
automatically reduces risk.
If AIG and Lehman Brothers had been ex-
changing mortgage-backed securities risk with
others in a collaborative environment, the market
would likely have been more transparent and more
accurately valued. Increased transparency would
also make it easier to apply market controls.
The information architecture of the simplest
possible user experience example is shown in
Figure 9, which illustrates a means in which
known 'red flags' regarding the discrepancies
in financial product valuations might clearly be
brought to attention:
While it has often been reported that many
knew, or should have known, about these risks,
there has been little discussion of how this informa-
tion would have been represented. An integrated
collaborative system can help address these 'gray
areas', which frequently exist in risk environments.
Note: the implication here for compliance may be
the reason this type of system is ultimately never
adopted. The current system's opaque paper trail
may be seen as less risky to organizations from
a legal standpoint because it makes it difficult to
make the case that collaboratively-available risk
information is generally known.

Services model can make it possible for collabo-
rators to trade amongst themselves, rather than
go through intermediaries, each of which may
have redundant, unique, or incompatible systems
(Chen, 2006).

example: Finance

Finance has always been a collaborative effort
because assumptions of value are based on collab-
orative input into financial systems. As financial
markets become more complex and interdepen-
dent, collaboration becomes more important. A
trading system using Web Services can be set up
to facilitate transactions. While certain sectors
can immediately benefit from this scheme, such
as hedge funds and energy traders, it potentially
has broader applicability.
In our example, risk is assumed in the form
of a time bound stock purchase contract or other
control. Stocks are bought and sold as currently
except it is easier for organizations to trade risk
amongst themselves rather than through brokers.
Groups can create stock indices, which are sold as
financial products. In this more fluid environment,
investors already committed to risk can improve
the liquidity of capital.
Where risk is a collaborative effort, it would
be less likely that a situation like the recent finan-

Future direCtions

Any new approach to complex industries is as-
sociated with challenges. Several are anticipated
in this case:

(1.) Fraud. There is always the risk of gaming the
system. The most obvious problem occurred
with Enron, which did not own any assets
but profited from the trades, and counted
potential future earnings as present earnings.