General Motors’ Research & Development has a global network of research centers and science & technology offices. One of the ways the research staff shares their work with colleagues is through a semi-annual forum. It provides researchers with the opportunity to interact face-to-face or virtually, using audio/web teleconferencing and a file management system. But due to the geographic distribution of GM R&D, it results in some attending the forum early in the morning or late at night.

To address the difficulty in getting researchers to interact with each other at the semi-annual forum, GM turned to Socialtext to provide a central, secure place where this research can be shared openly among the GM research community — and where it is searchable and discoverable.

“We are building a virtual forum site with Socialtext,” John Suh, a Staff Researcher at the GM Advanced Technology Silicon Valley Office, told me recently. “I want our researchers to post abstracts, posters, and a brief audio file into Socialtext. Before, during or after a research event, research staff and management can then ask questions and learn more about a particular area of research, using the ‘comment’ feature. So if someone in one office or time zone happened to miss out or cannot attend when the event was live, he or she can go into Socialtext and still participate in the conversation. And those that are interested in working together as a research team can use Socialtext Groups.”

John envisions this will enhance participation and the formation of collaborative work between the various R&D sites. “It’s really great that it’ll be easier for both the authors/presenters and the attendees to learn about what’s going on and find potential research partners,” he says.

Researchers will be encouraged to fill out their People Profiles, a social networking feature that allows them to share expertise and work activities. We think this is a really neat use of Socialtext, and we look forward to watching GM’s progress.