Ideate

As intensifying global competition shortens innovation cycles, and shrinking budgets demand greater efficiency, organizations are now challenged to achieve more with less. The situation requires new approaches to old problems. The Web 2.0 movement that has only recently made its way into enterprise thinking is fundamentally a user-centric revolution – a demand for interactive technologies that better serve their target audiences. The founders of Ideate believe that the management of research can be as compelling as the pursuit of discovery. The Company’s tagline ‘Smart Systems for Brilliant People’ refers to the Framework’s use of intelligent decision support to proactively guide compliance so busy researchers and administrators can focus on their contributions to project goals and the organization’s research mission.

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.