Virtual Collaborative Workspaces Promoting Public Health Scientific Collaboration

Virtual Collaborative Workspaces (CWS) are increasingly recognized as a medium for workgroup communication in today’s Internet/Intranet-driven workplaces. One objective of CDC’s National Children’s Study (NCS) Interest Group is to extend the capacity of the main NCS federal website to NCS stakeholders by providing a communication vehicle that enables ongoing dialog and feedback, regardless of time or space differentials, or geographical constraints.

CWS application has shown potential for creating a centralized, virtual mechanism as a social networking platform, accelerating communication, teamwork and rapport among participants. CWS enables efficient capture and dissemination of relevant study information extending beyond standard, formal and asynchronous modes of communication like email. Information moderated to levels of preference is selectively shared with internal stakeholders or the general public.

Long term benefits include potential for building a forward-looking core competency by enabling public health scientists to visualize and plan new adjunct studies, future projects and research.  Capabilities include formal and informal exchange of ideas, and sharing of multi-media based information and resources, presentations, news, reports, announcements, committee rosters and calendar events. Information management capabilities extend to providing immediate access to information of interest via search utility and archiving enhancements. Knowledge management and discovery is fostered through future enhancements such as data mining. Blogging components help maintain appropriate levels of interest in the study by deterring interest from waning over time.

Bridging communication gaps between internal stakeholders and the consortium of other lead NCS Federal agencies (NIH, EPA, NICHD and NIEHS) creates increased awareness and understanding of the study’s immediate goals and objectives, enriching the knowledge base and quality of information that is captured, organized and disseminated. This enables learning and reviewing while improving the health, development, and well-being of children through the course of the 20 years of the NCS study.