What is Agora and what is its main purpose?
Agora is a digital platform designed as a comprehensive solution to accelerate digital transformation initiatives within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across Europe. Its primary goal is to support HEIs in implementing their transformation strategies, aligning with European Research Area (ERA) and European Education Area (EEA) priorities. Agora acts as a hub for research and innovation activities, enhancing HEIs' roles as drivers of knowledge and innovation ecosystems. It is built on a mature open-source business platform (Odoo), which includes ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) modules, customized to provide a range of acceleration services.
What are some of the key acceleration services offered through the Agora platform?
Agora offers a range of services aimed at supporting HEI transformation. These include strategy development, coaching, and investment strategies. The platform facilitates various functions such as managing contacts and stakeholders, managing inquiries through a CRM module (handling a significant volume of inquiries as demonstrated by Unite alliance), creating showcases or mini-websites for projects and services, and importantly, providing metadata repositories or catalogues for various types of data. Examples of these catalogues include research infrastructures, tech transfer offices, events, grants, funding opportunities, experts, courses (for students and staff), internships, projects, and research and innovation proposals.
How does the catalog module work within Agora, particularly for managing data and fostering collaboration?
The catalog module is a core component of Agora, providing a flexible repository to store and disseminate various types of data from different models. It allows alliances to define a set of fields for a specific data model and enables the community to create records. These records can be subject to a validation process by designated managers before being made public on the website. The platform facilitates communication and collaboration around these data entries. For example, for research and innovation proposals, users can create proposals, which are then reviewed by managers. Interested parties can contact the proposal creators through a form, and these interactions are tracked within the CRM module, fostering controlled communication and potentially leading to collaborations.
How does an alliance or HEI get started with using Agora and what is the onboarding process?
The onboarding process for an alliance or HEI interested in using Agora is designed to be simple and agile. It typically begins with the setup of a subdomain for the alliance under the widening.eu domain (e.g., unite.widening.eu). A point of contact from the alliance is identified. Alliances then use a predefined Excel template to request access to specific Agora modules for their team members. After the platform is configured based on these requests, users receive onboarding emails along with documentation on how to use the assigned modules. Isolated instances of Agora are deployed for each alliance, ensuring data separation, and backup and recovery support is provided.
How does Agora handle searching for information and facilitating matchmaking between users or entities?
Agora includes a robust search function on its main page that allows users to look for information across all the different catalogues, such as research infrastructures, courses, and innovation proposals. Users can search by topic or keywords to find relevant entries. Beyond simple searching, Agora also supports matchmaking. For example, users can subscribe to specific tags within catalogues (like types of collaboration for research proposals) to receive alerts for new relevant entries. While an expert catalogue is planned for direct matchmaking based on individual expertise, the current system facilitates connections through the contact forms associated with catalogue entries, putting interested parties in touch with the creators of the resource.
Can alliances customize the appearance and content displayed within their Agora instance?
Yes, alliances have significant flexibility in customizing their Agora instance, particularly regarding the visual identity and how data is displayed. Managers with website editor access can use drag-and-drop tools to easily modify the content and layout of the website, including the views of the different catalogues. They can control which fields are displayed, add or remove filters, and adjust the overall presentation. While in-depth customization of Odoo templates or low-level code may require assistance from the development team, the website edition module provides extensive control over the public-facing aspects of the platform. Alliances can also request the development of new modules or features to meet their specific needs.
How is data managed and protected within Agora, particularly concerning GDPR compliance and external data integration?
Agora places a strong emphasis on data protection and GDPR compliance. Each alliance's data is stored in an isolated instance on UPC servers, ensuring data separation. The project has developed a standardized user agreement that universities as partners of alliances are encouraged to sign, along with updated terms and conditions and a privacy policy that are uploaded to the different Agora instances. These documents provide a clear legal framework for data handling. Regarding external data, Agora supports API integration for both importing and exporting data. This allows alliances to synchronize data from existing databases into Agora or fetch data from Agora to display on their own systems, such as university websites.
What are the plans for the sustainability and future development of the Agora platform beyond the current project funding?
The Agora platform is funded by the European Commission under the HORIZON-WIDERA program until 2027. After the project ends, the sustainability strategy for the Agora platform aims to explore avenues for self-financing or partnerships with external organizations, such as HEI associations or funding bodies, that could support its continuation and growth. The project intends to transition to a self-sustaining model, potentially involving a maintenance fee following a classical open-source approach. Continued development is also a key aspect, with ongoing co-creation of new acceleration services based on the requests and needs of participating alliances and stakeholders, such as dashboards for gender equality plans or quality management tools. The focus remains on evolving the platform to benefit the wider European higher education landscape.