15 December 2010
New SURFnet infrastructure integrates social networks and collaboration tools
SURFconext creates a new online collaboration infrastructure for education and research institutions.
Utrecht, 8 December 2010 – At its SURFnet Contact Days, SURFnet has introduced its new SURFconext service, an online collaboration infrastructure for staff, researchers, and students at higher education and research institutions. SURFconext makes it possible to collaborate across institutional boundaries and national borders. SURFnet has collaborated with higher education and research institutions and both national and international partners to develop this innovative infrastructure.
Paul van Dijk, the product manager responsible for SURFconext at SURFnet, has this to say: “The growing need that multi disciplinary teams have to exchange information is leading to increased demand for new collaboration solutions. SURFnet sees new opportunities in online collaboration. We are holding discussions with a large number of higher education institutions about the introduction of the new collaboration infrastructure.”
Applications from various providers
SURFconext makes it possible to use applications from various different providers and institutions alongside one another and to combine them, thus opening up new opportunities for collaboration. Using applications that are connected by means of open standards gives users a simple way of sharing information and working on files. This includes such uses as document sharing, web conferencing, chat and presence tools, video, and applications specifically for research and education.
Simple and secure access
Education and research institutions can link internal and external applications and make a collaboration environment available ot their own users via their own portal. By means of SURFfederatie, users can log in to the portal with their own institutional account, thus gaining secure and simple access to the available online applications. Here they can create their own collaboration environment by selecting the applications that they need and sharing them with colleagues. Users can themselves arrange for authorisation for their teams.
OpenSocial portal
SURFnet has constructed a demo portal so as to clarify all the various functions. The portal was developed on the basis of the OpenSocial standard. SURFnet wishes to encourage institutions to develop their own institutional portal and link it to SURFconext. A number of universities, for example the University of Twente and Delft University of Technology, are already making active use of OpenSocial. Jos in den Bosch, an IT architect at Delft University of Technology, says: “We have started a pilot project – together with SURFnet – for the use of OpenSocial. We are testing whether it really is easy to offer your own functionality and third-party functionality simultaneously. The portal based on OpenSocial has everything needed to offer added value not only within a single institution but also beyond the level of individual institutions.”
Availability
The beta version of the SURFconext service will be available in January 2011. SURFconext will undergo further development so that researchers, instructors, and students can combine the latest applications and resources.