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Photo
by Chris Hammond
Andrew Draskoy (L) and programmer Sarah Arnott have put
a significant amount of time and effort into the uPortal
project. |
By Kristine Hamlyn
Memorial University of Newfoundland has been mentioned among
some of the top universities in the world for its significant
involvement in the uPortal project. InfoWorld, a premier
business and computing magazine, has named the project by the
Java Architectures Special Interest Group (JA-SIG), in which
Memorial plays an integral role, in the top five of its top
100 visionary IT projects of 2003.
The current core uPortal developer group includes Columbia,
Yale, Cornell, and Nagoya Universities, Memorial University
of Newfoundland and three for-profit companies. Andrew Draskoy,
portal project leader, is proud to report that Memorial has
received a huge amount of recognition for the project. “Essentially,
it has put us on the map in this area of innovation.”
The judges for the top 100, made up of InfoWorld editors
and InfoWorld CTO, reviewed entries submitted by companies,
government agencies, and organizations. Entries were judged
on innovation and project complexity. Judges looked at what
cutting-edge technologies were used and the stumbling blocks
that were overcome to achieve success. Also considered were
integration issues and how project leaders worked with users
and other business units.
Mr. Draskoy and programmer Sarah Arnott have put a significant
amount of time and effort into the uPortal project to date.
Although the work done from Memorial’s end has focused
solely on what is required for the purpose of advancing Memorial’s
own portal, located at my.mun.ca,
it has been invaluable to the JA-SIG team, the uPortal project
as a whole and to many other universities using uPortal to create
their own portals.
For somebody offering a service, Memorial’s portal is
a way to improve processes. From the user point of view it creates
a sense of relationship with the university. “There is
no longer a need for students, faculty and staff at Memorial
to have an intimate knowledge of the university’s administrative
structure,” explained Mr. Draskoy. “The portal takes
into account the individual’s multiple and changing roles
within the institution and creates a personalized view of the
university. For example, if you are an alumnus, staff or student
you could you get the relevant services and information in one
place.”
Memorial’s portal and thus direct involvement with JA-SIG
and the uPortal project has led to high profile recognition
for the university. This work is used by many other universities
around the world and there are external audiences who regard
Memorial as innovators in this area. It is a remarkable tool
for relationship building, improving process and in many instances
saving a lot of time, money and resources. People can look forward
to an improved user experience at Memorial as more administrative
departments come on board.
The InfoWorld 100 awards honour IT initiatives making
use of innovative technology to further their organizations’
goals. This year, JA-SIG placed a predominant number four, preceded
by Citigroup, Maines Paper and Food Service and Arrow Electronics
respectively, with Hartford Hospital taking fifth place. Those
interested in reading the InfoWorld article which highlights
the significance of the uPortal project and mentions Memorial
University among the most prestigious universities in the world
can go to www.uportal.org.
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issue: January 22, 2003
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