MADISON – The first official request for information from the University of Wisconsin System Directory of Expertise, an online database of more than 3,000 UW System faculty and staff experts, will take place April 9th in conjunction with the UW System Board of Regents meeting.
Assisting in the launch of the Directory will be Brenda Blanchard, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. Another partner in the project is Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
“The UW System Directory of Expertise is a free resource for Wisconsin businesses, large and small,” said Katharine Lyall, UW System President. “Wherever they happen to be, they can tap into the resources of their university and put knowledge to work. The businesses and the UW System both benefit when we work together to meet the needs of the state.”
Up-to-date information and technical assistance that can potentially benefit businesses throughout Wisconsin will be available through the Directory. Faculty and staff from all disciplines are included.
Businesses will find the Directory useful for many purposes, including: identifying prospective collaborators; leveraging their existing research and development efforts; keeping up to date with basic science and academic research; communicating directly with the researchers who possess the expertise they need; and developing business and strategic marketing plans.
The UW System has published experts directories in the past, as have individual campuses. Books become dated immediately, however, and are expensive to reprint and maintain. The advantage of the online UW System Directory of Expertise is that records can be updated electronically in order to provide access to timely, relevant, accurate information.
The UW Systems partnership with the Community of Science (COS) also allows Wisconsin businesses access to over 100,000 individual faculty members nationwide. COS Expertise is the premier database of researcher profiles.
The COS database is proprietary, so businesses must work with a UW System institution liaison to initiate a search. A list of liaisons is available on the UW System web site at www.uwsa.edu/xpertise.htm, or by calling 1-800-442-6461.
Businesses can also access the Directory by contacting Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce at (608) 258-3400 and the Wisconsin Department of Commerce at (608) 266-1018.
Contact:
Kevin Boatright
(608) 263-2227