Ideate

Mass publicly organized basic research has its roots in the crucible of World War II. The administration of research began with a simple premise: "There is only one proved method of assisting the advancement of pure science - that of picking men (sic) of genius, backing them heavily, and leaving them to direct themselves." James Bryan Conant, President, Harvard University, Letter to the New York Times, August 13, 1945. However, decades of regulations have fragmented research administration. Management is divided amongst a myriad of offices that have overlapping authority over research projects. While these mandated oversight offices provide specialized support, they also introduce their own forms, workflows, and systems, which unintentionally compound the administrative burden for researchers. As a result of this compliance-centric division of labor, information regarding the lifecycle of interrelated records is often trapped in disparate and disconnected systems, making it difficult to have a coherent view of a project.

Though Ideate applications can standalone, they are designed to work together to support tight coordination across research offices; facilitating inter-office data sharing and minimizing duplication. Ideate applications use a project folder metaphor, where the project serves as a convenient metafile for organizing all related details pertaining to a single research study. When a researcher launches a project all related applications are joined-up in an umbrella process. The project acts as a one-stop-shop logging all changes and tracking all components on behalf of the stakeholders. As details change over the lifecycle of a research project, Ideate reacts accordingly, updating relevant administrative offices and/or notifying additional business units. Instead of separately coordinating with multiple offices and then juggling the related tasks that might follow, Ideate connects all the dots for a singular unified experience.

The Ideate Framework can be deployed either on-premise in your own data center, or as a hosted solution in our state-of-the-art facility for a hassle-free instant-activation. Trials are available so institutions can test the system and build buy-in with internal stakeholders before committing any precious budget monies. In addition, license/subscriptions include a 90-day money-back guarantee. The pricing model is based on the number of logins required, so the amount an organization pays is proportional to their use. There is no upfront capital expense for a license, only an annual subscription, which can be adjusted much as cell phone minutes are managed.