www.floodsite.net: Using the web for research dissemination, team building and project management

FLOODsite is an Integrated Project under the EC 6th Framework Programme and comprises over €14M of research work being undertaken by 36 partners, drawn from 13 different countries. Management and implementation of the project is particularly driven by the complexity and volume of work, the number and distribution of partners and the variety of target/stakeholder groups. Use of the web as a management and implementation tool seemed the most effective approach. From the outset, three core objectives of the website were to facilitate research dissemination, team building and project management. A range of web tools have been developed and applied during the past 2 years – some successful, some not so effective. Fundamental to their effectiveness is their functionality and usability. This paper provides an overview of the web based work within FLOODsite, highlighting the concepts applied and giving examples of approaches and tools that have worked well and some that have not worked so well. The se findings should be of value to any project manager considering how to make effective use of the web for facilitating large technical projects