I-Open Selects Near-Time Web Platform to Accelerate Economic Development Communities Across the U.S.

May 14, 2007; 04:28 AM
Near-Time, Inc. today announced that its Web collaboration service has been selected by the Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open). I-Open is adopting the Near-Time platform to bring together economic development professionals online and to accelerate economic development efforts in several regions across the United States. This initiative integrates several different Web properties into a single collaborative platform for economic development community projects currently underway in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana and revamps the I-Open EDPro Weblog, the nation’s leading Weblog for economic developers.

As the paradigm in economic development shifts from competition to collaboration, integrated Web communications are becoming a key element in building civic communities comprised of individuals representing diverse interests. I-Open is using Near-Time as a platform to help leaders in business, education, economic development, workforce development, politics and philanthropy launch public Web sites, plan and manage projects and collaborate on content.

Powered by Near-Time, the new EDPro Premium will provide practical guidance to economic development professionals on the latest innovations to build prosperity in cities, rural counties, regions and states. The site will feature added functionality including podcasts and Webcasts, and it will enable I-Open to monetize their content, provide different levels of membership and grant access to their library of reports.

“Enabling online collaboration in the civic space is difficult because it’s heterogeneous,” noted Ed Morrison, Founding Partner of Cleveland-based I-Open. “We chose Near-Time because they are a company with a solid understanding of how different collaboration tools integrate. In regional economic development, the Near-Time platform changes the game, delivering simple yet powerful tools that accelerate collaboration across organizational and political boundaries. The platform’s flexibility and customization work well in everything from simple collaborations to complex publishing.”

Near-Time is a hosted Web 2.0 based collaboration and publishing platform that integrates wikis and weblogs. Task management and file sharing capabilities are also available in the platform. Near-Time’s intuitive interface is ideally suited for cross organizational interaction. Near- Time users can quickly customize the look and feel of a space and access controls and a rich roles and permissions model. Content can be private, semi-private or published to the Web at large.

The new models of economic development that I-Open is developing and deploying initially are in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana and are based on Morrison’s concept of open source economic development in which the same principles of open networks and open source software development are applied to economic development. Morrison has been developing this framework over the past seven years, founded on the belief that prosperity in communities is built through open networks of collaboration.

The Defrag Ohio, BioTown USA, Lexington, Kentucky and EDPro Premium Weblog projects are powerful examples of I-Open’s open source economic development philosophy.

• Defrag Ohio is a state-wide, grassroots economic development project that is designed to bring together people in rich digital media using simulations in education. The Defrag Ohio initiative will support hundreds of organizations.
• BioTown USA is a regional collaboration project that has begun to use Near-Time to involve 14 counties in North Central Indiana in converting Reynolds, Indiana into a town fueled by biofuels.
• Commerce Lexington will launch a Near-Time site to facilitate a collaborative work group of civic and business leaders who are exploring ways to strengthen resources with the University of Kentucky.
• EDPro Premium is I-Open’s new Weblog. Powered by Near-Time Premium, the Weblog will enable economic development professionals to quickly and easily forge commercial relationships with a variety of audiences nationwide.

“We are very excited to work with industry leader I-Open, a company widely respected for its innovations in economic development. Their grass roots initiatives are delivering direct results in improving the economic landscape for entrepreneurial and small business groups,” said Reid Conrad, CEO of Near-Time. ”I-Open’s implementation speaks to Near-Time’s ability to bring communications and publishing together seamlessly across traditional organizational, industrial and geographic boundaries. We are looking forward to working with I-Open to extend their reach with similar initiatives underway in Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin,” continued Conrad.

About I-Open

The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) develops and deploys new models of economic development based on open networks and the principles of open source software development. These models accelerate innovation in cities, rural counties and regions by strengthening collaborations among individuals representing diverse interests in business, education, economic development, workforce development, politics and philanthropy. I-Open’s approach revolves around new civic disciplines of “strategic doing.” I-Open is currently deploying these models in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

About Near-Time

Near-Time brings collaboration, content and knowledge management together. Near-Time integrates weblogs and Wikis with Web technologies to enable groups to work together more effectively in a secure, hosted platform. Near-Time users can share information, files and create group calendars. Near-Time is in use in over 40 nations by hundreds of businesses, academic institutions, government agencies and non-profit organizations to maximize internal and external collaboration. For more information, go to http://www.near-time.com/.