Microsoft Solution Brief - Calit2, UCSD

“The 2007 Microsoft Office system integrated suite of tools provides many opportunities to enhance Calit2’s collaborative, interdisciplinary research environment, as well as implement more efficient workflow and business processes.” - David Hutches, Director, Engineering Computing, Jacobs School of Engineering, UCSD

Calit2 at UCSD looks to enhance collaboration among internal and external research groups with 2007 Microsoft Office system

modified before its first commercial release. Accordingly, the information may not accurately describe or reflect the software product when first commercially

released. This document is provided for informational purposes only and Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to this document or the

information contained in it. Microsoft, Groove, the Office logo, OneNote, and SharePoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft

Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Document published May 2006.

Situation

The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) is one of four institutes funded in the California Institutes for Science and Innovation initiative launched in the year 2000. A partnership between the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the University of California, Irvine (UCI), the campuses shared $100 million from the State of California, matched more than 3-to-1 by industry partners, to design and build innovative research facilities and invent collaborative research environments for the digital future. Calit2 conducts research on next generation telecommunications and information technologies and how these will transform a range of applications, from medical science to the new media arts, which are important to California’s economy and its citizens’ quality of life.

Calit2 focuses on multidisciplinary collaboration, bringing together teams of talented researchers from all over the world. Its projects involve faculty, students, industry, government, and community partners. Calit2's researchers face the challenge of collaborating within and among different groups, as well as with outside partners, and across a wide variety of diverse disciplines. For both researchers and administrative personnel at Calit2, proposal generation, budget planning, and scheduling activities based primarily on paper and email-centric processes could greatly benefit from improved document and content management, enabling increased collaboration and staff efficiency.

Solution

UCSD decided to participate in the Microsoft® Office Rapid Deployment Technology Adoption Program to explore how technologies in the 2007 Microsoft Office system might support research collaboration and improve overall business process efficiency. Calit2 expects to use Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 to support more efficient and structured collaboration among researchers, and on proposals, budgets, project management, and meeting coordination. Additionally, the processes for scheduling meeting rooms and resources, routing budget and project proposals for approval, and tracking employment applications will be streamlined through Office SharePoint Server 2007. Taking advantage of its integration with other applications, the use of Microsoft Office Groove® 2007 technologies can enable Calit2 research teams to collaborate in real time with researchers anywhere, on any network, with minimal IT support. Deploying Microsoft Office OneNote® 2007 to collect and manage almost any type of information—structured and unstructured—in one place is a logical way to enhance Calit2’s information sharing capabilities. Using Office OneNote 2007 in an integrated fashion with other 2007 Microsoft Office system applications would enable Calit2 to create a comprehensive searchable record of project information, including meeting and research notes and documentation, which can be accessed easily by authorized users and retained as employees move to new roles.

Benefits

To increase knowledge sharing among interdisciplinary groups through a centralized workspace
To improve development of partnerships with external research organizations through more streamlined internal processes
To increase staff productivity with real-time collaboration tools
To provide an integrated environment to enable dynamic teamwork, information sharing, and structured collaboration