Pretoria, 27 Jun 2006
The National Research Foundation (NRF) has gone online with an integrated Web-based research funding grants system. Developed by IT infrastructure, solutions and services provider, Datacentrix, the system facilitates the NRF`s granting process, which disburses in excess of R500 million per annum.
The process involves the calling for and evaluation of research proposals by various panels of experts and academic institutions, as well as the monitoring of annual progress reports from existing funded grants. Successful applicants can manage their awarded funds online with an interactive budget facility that is integrated into the NRF`s Great Plains financial system.
According to Eugene van Rensburg, service delivery director at Datacentrix, the new NRFOnline system will replace inherited software systems, combating the issues of disparate software, duplication of information and limited external visibility that NRF is currently experiencing.
"The implementation kicked off at the beginning of August 2002 after a rigorous NRF tender process. The contract was awarded to Datacentrix having fulfilled the various tender criteria that included its black economic empowerment (BEE) record," Van Rensburg says.
"Another significant factor was Datacentrix`s expertise and experience with Great Plains, workflow and document management software implementations. The system was developed on the Microsoft .NET Framework in C# and integrated into K2.Net workflow engine as well as Microsoft Sharepoint Server," he adds.
The NRF executive sponsor of the project, Dr Andrew Kaniki, comments: "The system will not only assist the NRF deliver on its mandate more efficiently, but most importantly, will facilitate effective interaction with key stakeholders like the departments of science and technology, education, trade and industry and of course potential and active grant-holders and researchers."
The NRF realised that its many grant-holders had to request different grants by re-applying over and over again, a less than satisfactory process. The mandate was given to Datacentrix to create a seamless system allowing transfer of data from one application to another. "We call it the `One NRF`," Kaniki says.
The USA counter part of the NRF, National Science Foundation (NSF), has commented on the value of the NRFOnline system saying that it is at least on par with the current NSF system.
"The biggest challenge in architecting this solution was the associated global aspects of scientific assessments and review. With the NRFOnline system, we had to look at the social implications of assigning workload to users of the system over the continent and see how they would interact and experience the system. This has not been done without difficulties, but it was worth it when we saw how many online users interact with the system daily," comments Van Rensburg.
Despite the many initial challenges faced, researchers and post-graduate students can now apply online throughout the year at http://nrfonline.nrf.ac.za for funding from an array of different funding programmes.
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