Development of an Online Collaboration Tool for Research and Innovation in the University

For our Universities to match global demands for research and innovation, the absence of viable collaboration platforms that encourage continuous and relevant multi-disciplinary research would have to be addressed to enable collaborative research take place at the convenience of all team members. This research study aims at presenting the academia with a suitable online collaboration platform that promotes collaborative research among students with lecturers serving as online supervisors such that research activities can be shared among all team members anytime and anywhere. The Adaptive Software Development model was employed. A Joint Application Design Requirement Gathering (JAD-R) session was conducted to determine the required functionalities and tools for the user interface design of the web-based platform. Based on the findings of the JAD-R session a database was designed for the platform’s information system. The software was constructed using PHP and Javascript programming languages with the Model Viewer Controller (MVC) programming technique on the programming framework called CodeIgniter (CI) to support continuous development and subsequent maintenance of the software. The testing and evaluation procedure employed students from different faculties to register their accounts, add or join research teams and create specific research projects while adhering to the requirements of the system to maintain standard. The online collaboration tool developed was tested with respondents filling questionnaires. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of the respondents were satisfied with the general overview of the application; eighty percent (80%) of the respondents accepted that the application’s user interface was user friendly; and sixty-five percent (65%) accepted that the functionality of the application was satisfactory. This research study helped to demonstrate how research and innovation in the University can be supported and promoted using collaboration platforms while bringing to light other areas for further research.