Trends

Concepts such as e-Science, e-Research and e-Learning attest to the fundamental role that the Internet now plays in science, research and the transfer of knowledge. In developing the Ground-Breaking Collaboration Environment, SURFnet has tapped into three key trends in international education and research..

Acceleration and internationalisation of research through cloud

Globalisation has transformed the world of research and education. Thanks to the Internet, theories, data and research findings now zip through a whole host of networks. Sharing data and computer capacity ‘in the cloud’ greatly expands the opportunities for and scope of research groups. People, sources, data, tools and other resources need to be quick and easy to find and linked up in the digital world. The Internet offers tremendous potential for collaboration, and makes research and education more effective and powerful.

Working in multidisciplinary teams

People who in real life have never even met each other face-to-face are increasingly working together in multidisciplinary teams. Researchers use virtual collaboration environments for this purpose. This digital form of collaboration facilitates the research process, particularly in sharing sources and collaborating on publications. Virtual collaborative organisations serve to reinforce research effectiveness and efficiency enabling research groups to resolve problems jointly that are beyond the capacity of individual researchers. What’s more, collaborative partnerships which in the past proved to be virtually unfeasible or impossible, are now possible.

Growing demand for the unimpeded transfer of knowledge

The dynamics of research and education demands the fast and unimpeded exchange of information, often in collaborative partnerships formed overnight and having a fast-changing composition. Whereas shared disk space and a shared calendar within a department were acceptable in the past, nowadays students, lecturers and academics worldwide want to use advanced communication tools, such as chat, live video, web conferencing, content-sharing and social networking for extensive collaborative efforts and for sharing knowledge.