CORDIS celebrates its 10th
birthday by relaunching as a portal, not just an
information provider. Campbell
McCracken reports
In the month that saw the collapse of both the Berlin
Wall and Margaret Thatcher, CORDIS – the European
Commission’s Community R&D Information Service – was
formed. Launched in November 1990 to provide reliable
information on European R&D, it now claims to be the
richest innovation resource on the web.
When launched, CORDIS consisted of three online
databases containing a total of 40,000 records. It was
interrogated by users 500 times during the first month.
The current site, redesigned earlier this year, handles
2.5 million sessions per month from its 120,000 users,
and monthly downloads from its 10 databases and over
30,000 web pages have now reached 248,000.
Aimed not just at researchers, it is used by
business, innovation advisors, local, national and
international authorities, and the media.
CORDIS is run by the EC’s Innovation Directorate. Its
newly relaunched core service has three principal
objectives: to provide detailed information on FP5 (the
Fifth Research Framework Programme), including how to
propose a research project for FP5 funding; to
facilitate exploitation of the results of FP5; and to
host services to foster the innovation process, in
particular converting research into new products and
services.
Structure
The portal is divided into three parts. There is an
information section (‘Find’) containing the core EU
R&D activities. This includes the main CORDIS
databases and the web services of the various framework
programmes. A guidance section (‘Explore’) opens doors
to general innovation opportunities or specific measures
for SMEs. The ‘Today’ section provides daily news in
five languages on all aspects of EU research and
innovation, plus the CORDIS current highlights.
News has become a core CORDIS service. It includes
reports on policy developments, and can be used to find
out about funding opportunities, upcoming events, calls
for proposals, and so on.
In addition, further user-friendly databases provide
information on EU research programmes, exploitable
results, potential partners, publications, contacts and
a document library. These can be searched individually
or collectively, and some geographically at national or
regional level.
Specialist services
CORDIS also operates specialist services – some of
which are currently experimental – each focusing on a
specific aspect of European research. They include
information services on the research-related objectives
and initiatives of the Member State currently holding
the EU Presidency. Other services provide information on
the objectives and initiatives of some of the other
Member States and regions.
Access to the EC’s main periodicals on research and
innovation is also available online. These include
CORDIS Focus (a fortnightly newsletter giving
information on funding, events and developments),
Euroabstracts (published bi-monthly, reviewing important
new research publications) and Innovation &
Technology Transfer (bi-monthly, promoting innovation
and participation in research).
Many of the CORDIS services are becoming increasingly
interactive, with the Partners service leading the way.
It can help organisations to find the best research
partners for their projects. The Technology Marketplace
provides a way to submit research results or technology
offers. There are several Help Desks, such as LIFT
(Linking Innovation, Finance and Technology). LIFT
provides financial help in converting EU-supported
R&D projects into real business ventures. There is
also an IPR Help Desk to help users protect their
intellectual property rights.
One of CORDIS’s principles is to "watch without the
need to go to the web". RAPIDUS is a free alert service
that keeps users up to date with what is new on the
site. It emails news of developments, events, projects
and ready-for-exploitation technology. Users can specify
areas of interest, stop or start the service and change
their interests.
Evolution
Despite its success, or perhaps because of it, CORDIS
continues to evolve. One pilot project is ERGO, a
one-stop-shop for information on research providing
users with a single entry point to search through
documents held in over 20 databases in 12 European
countries.
Other future developments include a thematic approach
to ease access through flexible and tailored delivery,
and high-profile personalisation of the web site, moving
towards a ‘My CORDIS’ facility. There are also plans to
turn the Technology Marketplace into a 3D virtual fair,
with real video touring of the exhibits. And finally,
conscious that not all users are skilled IT operators
nor experts in EU jargon or policies, CORDIS will still
operate a multilingual full-time help desk service.
