Dr. Rogerio de Paula is a research manager at IBM Research – Brazil, leading the Social Enterprise Technologies Group. He is also member of the Center for Social Business at IBM Research. He has 10+ years experience conducting empirical qualitative research in the design, use, and adoption of collaborative technologies. He is particularly interested in models and patterns of social interactions in people’s everyday life and work. In that, he studies the meanings, values, and practices that are created as people carry out their daily affairs through and around technology. At IBM, his research focuses on understanding the human aspects of large-scale service practices in order to devise new service models, technologies, and theories to shape and improve IBM's social business solutions. Currently, he studies the emergence of 'work' networks--particular form of complex, heterogeneous social networks--that emerge from everyday interactions within and across organizations and social groups at work.

His main research areas are human computer interaction, computer supported cooperative work, social studies of technology, social networks, and design of interactive systems. He is also starting to investigate the emerging field of "information practices," which attempts to understand the cultural, practical, and technological means by which information flows across different social settings and practices.

Before joining IBM, he carried out ethnographic studies and designed new technologies for the emerging markets. His particular research interests rested on understanding how everyday practices and new media affect the design and adoption of computing technologies. Lately, Rogerio led a research and innovation initiative, which aimed at identifying new academic and industry partnership opportunities.

In 2004, he held a post-doctoral fellow position at University of California Irvine, where he investigated the practical issues of privacy and security that emerge as people interact with technology.

He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder (1999-2004). His dissertation work focused on the social and cultural studies of technology, which investigated the design and adoption processes of a social-networking system. He also holds a M.S. in Telecommunications from this university (1997-1998), and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil (1989-1993).