What is O3 Collaboration?
O3 Collaboration (O3) is a Web-based service where researchers, educators and students in Ontario can find and share knowledge, collaborate on projects across institutions and find solutions to problems, whether in the form of tools or people who can help through professional networking. Conceived and designed by the ORION community, O3 aims to break down barriers to research success in Ontario, improve outcomes in education and save users time and money.
 
What are the collaboration tools available to users?
O3 users can share and review documents, post photos and videos for comment, create Blogs, Wiki, forums and events calendars, all in one online location that also features powerful professional networking tools.

Who has access to O3?
Access to O3 is a value-added benefit of being part of the ORION network. Any researcher, academic, faculty member or (student) ORION-connected institution is can access and utilize the tools and resources available in O3.
 
How is O3 different from other services?
O3 is unique in that it was developed with the support and guidance of Ontario's research and education community to meet their needs for collaboration. O3 provides them with interactive Web 2.0 tools and resources they need today to advance and support their work and research.
 
Who can form a community on O3?
Any Ontario researcher, educator or student based at an ORION-connected institution is welcome to form a community on O3 Collaboration and may invite others to join their community, even from outside Ontario.
 
How much does O3 cost?
Individual users do not pay to use O3. O3 offering is included in the annual fee organizations already pay to be connected to ORION.

Can people who are not a part of the ORION network, such as members of the private sector or research commercialization partners, participate in O3?
Yes, they can, if they are invited to participate by a user within an ORION-member institution.

How do users register with O3?
We are working with institutions to pre-register researchers and educators en masse to O3. Users can also join by being invited by another. ORION is also reaching out to specific researchers, educators and organizations to help them adopt and benefit from O3.
 
Does O3 compete with existing services provided by individual institutions?
O3 is not intended to replace existing services provided by individual institutions; rather, it is meant to complement them or fill a gap where no tools exist.  O3 is targeted at groups who do not have a platform on which to collaborate or are looking for an alternative to existing that is no longer meeting their needs.
 
What is the value for researchers and educators of switching to O3 to communicate and collaborate when they are comfortable with existing tools such as e-mail?
Researchers have told us they need tools and resources such as O3 to support new and innovative ways of communicating and collaborating beyond simply exchanging emails and attachments. They need tools and applications to allow them to create, share, search and review materials collectively and in real time on a shared and secure platform.
 
What information repositories and Web sites is O3 replacing?
O3 is not intended as a replacement for existing repositories or Web sites that already are already used and respected by researchers. Instead, it can be a place where a new repository can be created to fill a gap or where you users can discover outside repositories or resources through an integrated search function and links.
 
How easy is O3 to learn? Is there training available?
ORION will deliver workshops across the province and hosting webinars that will showcase the benefits of collaboration and how to use O3. An online demo will be available as well.
 
Is the service live?
A closed pilot is slated to begin in late March / early April 2009 with broader access scheduled to begin in late May 2009.
 
When can we start using O3?
O3 is ready to use now. We are encouraging users to sign on now.

Does my IT department support O3?
Our institution technology partners are aware and were part of the consultation process that identified the need for such a service. However, they do not provide direct support for O3.
 
Can I create private spaces for specific groups?
Yes, if you want to create private space to collaborate with a small, select number of collaborators, you can create a private group that can not be discovered by others on O3.
 
Where will my documents be physically housed? Where does my personal data reside?
ORION has selected Igloo Software of Kitchener, Ontario to provide the technology that powers O3. Igloo is delivered via a software-as-service model. The service and data is hosted by Fusepoint at its data centre in Mississauga. All data remains in Canada.
 
Who owns my data?
You own your data.
 
Is there funding in place to maintain the platform in the long term?
O3 is operated by ORANO, the not-for-profit organization that operates ORION. O3 is a service the organization is committed to maintaining and nurturing. The service is funded through the existing user access fees institutions already pay for access to ORION.

Gary, can you provide a quick comparison with Ning or ELGG?

Tom

Tom,

Ning is very skewed towards social networking and virtual communication and does not have the document management features that O3 has. Ning is great if you want to set up a themed social network quickly, but it doesn't provide you with very much administrative control - I've heard some horror stories about communities wanting to export their member database and being unable to.

ELGG is very similar to O3 when it comes to features. The difference is O3 is a hosted software as a service based on open standards whereas I understand ELGG has to be hosted by the community itself on their own server or through a third-party. It also has to be downloaded and configured by the community owner. While it is free and open source, it also incumbent on the community owner to manage the technology on a daily basis.