ISO/IEC 19778-3:2015 specifies the Data Model for a collaborative group.

The collaborative group Data Model composes roles which can be played by the participants of a collaborative group, declares the intended role holders (positions for playing a particular role) for each role, and (at least during the life-span of the collaborative workplace) assigns participants to these role holders. The role names may be used as references to roles specified in detail by further specifications or standards. Where no such specifications or standards are available or identified, the provision of descriptions for human interpretation may support harmonized use of these names. Provided participant identifiers may be used as references to detailed participant information which may be specified in a provided user management system.

In future editions of this part of ISO/IEC 19778, the identification of participant types referring to a harmonized or standardized participant typology may be provided. Such a provision would upgrade the value of anonymized collaborative group Data Model instantiations for being reused as templates.

Currently, the collaborative groups specified by this Data Model are static. Participants may not be online all the time; in a collaborative group, private discussions may occur; participants may leave the collaborative group during the life-state of the collaborative workplace. It is not yet clear to which degree such aspects can and should be addressed in future editions of this part of ISO/IEC 19778.