'killer app' for research launched

Technology 07 Mar 11 New free software, launched by Oxford University scientists, gives researchers the tools they need to collaborate more efficiently and quickly with colleagues scattered around the world and working in a variety of different research areas. The colwiz ('collective wizdom') R&D platform manages the entire research lifecycle from an initial idea, through a complex collaboration, to publication of the results. It is being launched through Isis Innovation's Software Incubator - a new programme designed to promote software start-ups from the University of Oxford. 'At the moment researchers are using a dizzying array of different applications to communicate and collaborate,' said colwiz Chief Scientist Professor David Gavaghan of Oxford University. 'These might include Google Apps, Microsoft Live Services, LinkedIn, Yammer and Social Text. But because these are separate applications they don't do everything and don't always talk to each other, and this slows researchers down. colwiz replaces this hotchpotch with an integrated suite of tools custom-built for fast and efficient management of the research process.' At the heart of the colwiz platform is a publication library that enables users to manage publications using both a desktop application (for Windows, Linux and Mac) and a version 'in the cloud' that can be accessed from anywhere over the Internet.