Exactly 9 months ago, RedCLARA announced the launch of the new version of its collaboration portal: Colaboratorio, a space created in the framework of the ELCIRA project to support and promote scientific and academic collaboration within Latin America and with Europe. Now, when MAGIC is building on top of the ELCIRA experience, just a few months after that moment, with the service running smoothly, it can be said that the Colombian NREN, RENATA, took good advantage of the tool.
Directed by Lucas Giraldo Rios, the Colombian network joined the portal almost immediately after it became available, expanding its own applications offer in order to foster collaboration in its country. The Colombian version of Colaboratorio allows, among other features, the access and participation in the discussions and events of RENATA and RedCLARA communities, the creation and admission in Web conferences through Oficina Virtual and VC Espresso, and the management of virtual rooms for high-quality multipoint videoconferences with SIVIC.
"We saw that Colaboratorio is an amazing platform, which unifies and facilitates the access and the appropriation, by our scientists, of the collaboration services that we currently have. The simple, friendly and intuitive design of the interface seemed perfect to add our services to the RedCLARA ones”, says the director of the Colombian network, celebrating the capacities of the portal. "We were looking forward to start using the services that RedCLARA offers to the different communities of our continent. What we want is to continue making alliances with other NRENs to benefit our academic community", he adds.
Currently, RENATA offers more than 10 services through Colaboratorio, and the idea of the network is to raise awareness among academics and researchers about the availability of all its tools for the work they develop with their peers in Colombia, in the region and in the rest of the world.
According to Giraldo the tool can go even further. "We can make of it that services platform that finally will meet us in just one place. If we keep working in different directions It will take much more time to achieve the international levels of collaboration we want”, he states. To reach it, however, the national networks that have not yet implemented the constant use of the portal must do so, situation that RENATA sees not only as a challenge, but also as a great opportunity. "I am sure that the networks that wish to establish its Colaboratorio can count on the full support of RedCLARA and RENATA."