CORDIS, the Community Research and Development Information Service, has just launched a new Partners Service. Designed to be an interactive platform, this free online service can help you promote your expertise and organisations, find business or research partners, create groups, join networks and find the right components for funding bids and proposals. Developed in cooperation with a range of stakeholders, the new service builds on three fundamental ideas: personalisation, collaboration and networking.
Interactivity is a hallmark of social media and Web 2.0. Users have, for example, become accustomed to package and configure information according to their own wishes. The Partners Service takes this into account, combining a vast array of social media tools, CORDIS resources and back-office technologies. The aim is to provide a space where users can talk, debate and engage.
For users, a focal point of the new service is their online profile, which has significant room for them to feature their expertise, knowledge and work.
Another important characteristic of the new service is the possibility for users to form partnerships. With links to official information sources, basic data will be uploaded when funding opportunities are announced. This will help participants to discuss and review their ideas and proposals with one another ahead of submission deadlines.
For projects, finding the right people or entities to perform specialised work or even comply with funding requirements can take significant amounts of time. The new service aims to shorten this process by using an automated matching system that brings together data and hundreds of partnership requests supplied by companies, research-related entities and universities across Europe and around the world.
Active engagement is also crucial for success, so the new service offers users the opportunity to build and expand their networks. This can be done via participating in discussions, offering support in on-line groups or creating cross-disciplinary networks. The service provides the tools to users, allowing them to create and build according to their own needs as a group.
The best way to find out about the new CORDIS Partners Service is to try it out. Take the next step, and see what it has to offer: http://cordis.europa.eu/partners
