RSS feedsNot since the appearance of the steam engine started Britain on the path of industrialisation has a technology inaugurated such significant change.
It’s a grand statement but the popularity of the new web tools and social networking sites with scientists makes it increasingly believable. Scientists are taking up technological advances with a fervour not yet seen in other professions. The result is that the internet is transforming the way in which research is carried out, progressed and – perhaps most significantly of all – showcased.
A pain in the neck
“In a research environment lots of tools were a pain in the neck but then came
Web 2.0 and allowed people to share information and replicate what a university
environment would be like,” says John Newton, CTO and chairman of open source
enterprise content management supplier Alfresco.
One scientist who can’t hide his enthusiasm for web tools is Matthew Collins, professor of archaeology at York University. “Google Sites has revolutionised the way we work,” he says. Every research programme run by his department has its own remotely updatable microsite.
The rise of websites such as online encyclopedia Wikipedia and social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook is transforming the dissemination of research.
In scientific circles, cross-border or cross-company collaboration used to happen rarely, if it happened at all. Even email is too clunky to lend itself to a flowing, real-time conversation.
A direct result of the increasing use of web tools is that the publication and discussion of research findings and developments have accelerated. That’s not to say that scientific discoveries are being made more quickly or that research is less solid because it hasn’t been tested as much. On the contrary, with a broader tapestry of people involved in online discussions discoveries are just as likely to be debunked as quickly as they are supported.
Traditionally scientists waited to publish their findings in established journals to showcase their work and raise their profile. But the market for published journals has been transformed over the past decade, with the world wide web and Web 2.0 providing another outlet for scientists to discuss their research.
Today, scientists, like others, expect to find their news on the web in real time. They don’t want to wait six months before getting it in paper format. Journals still play a role but news is no longer their purpose.
Nature Publishing Group’s Nature Network, which has been described as a Facebook for scientists, recently hosted Europe’s first science blogging conference. It’s a good example of a traditional organisation exploiting new technology rather than hoping it’ll go away. The website has around 60 international scientists from all disciplines regularly blogging about anything and everything.
Its editor Matt Brown says: “We set up Nature Network to bring in a new way of communication via the internet. People say scientists don’t engage with the public, so this is a good way of showing they do. Anyone can create a forum if the idea hasn’t been launched already.
That’s very useful for the exchange of information. In the past this would have been done at a conference or via email or phone.”
Genie out of the bottle
Progressive companies are starting to adapt to sharing information in this way.
There are concerns about intellectual property but the era of openness can’t be
contained; to compete, companies will have to become more specialised in areas
of study and add value.
“Openness is the new business model that applies to everything and pervades all of the economy,” says Newton.
Nature Publishing knew it was time to open up so that scientists wouldn’t go elsewhere for their information. With virtual communities on networking sites numbering millions, the likelihood of someone setting up an online discussion forum was high.
But openness isn’t all negative for corporates. Jeff Patmore, head of strategic university research at BT, says: “Not everything we do is open but a large amount is shared with our partners. What we have learnt with working with US universities is that it’s more powerful to share. It’s a fine balance between healthy competition and collaboration.”
There is another bonus too. Technology speeds up the whole process. “Quicker communication aids science,” says Brown.
There’s also more room for different opinions to be heard. Typically only the most venerated of scientists are published in science journals. Online, any scientist can get heard as long as they have something interesting or innovative to say.
“Online, we get to hear the voices of PhD students and younger people, and that helps shape us to hear their thoughts on issues,” says Brown. “It has the potential to completely change everything.”
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