Called Project Blue Spruce, the software supports an environment for pulling together data, tools and widgets from around the Web to assemble the elements needed for business meetings. (Compare .)

For instance, IBM's has created an application for Reuters' traders to meet online, hear managers' directives for the day and look over news and stock activity around the world, says David Boloker, IBM CTO of emerging Internet technologies.

Blue Spruce differs from other Web collaboration platforms and services such as WebEx in that the others download centrally assembled pages. With Blue Spruce, involved in a collaboration downloads the elements required to make up the page from the nearest Internet source.

This means individuals experience faster page builds than they would if the content were assembled centrally and downloaded from a single source, especially if participants are widely dispersed around the world, Boloker says.

So in the Reuters case RSS feeds about individual companies, news stories and stock data might be compiled by each machine based on an application template describing what makes up the page. Stock prices are updated every five seconds from Yahoo.