NEWS & BLOG
From the EDGE community & beyond
EDGE is due for an upgrade to a newer infrastructure within our secure hosting provider. In order for this upgrade to take place EDGE needs to be taken offline and will not be accessible from 17:00 BST today for approximately 2 hours.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this and recommend that users stop using EDGE at around 16:50 to prevent any unsaved work from being lost.
Thank you,
The EDGE Team
When to use which system....
As you may be aware, we provide our users with a BETA version of the EDGE application (http://edgebeta.edge.nhs.uk). Historically, this has been available for users to demonstrate and train on the EDGE application, as well to test out new functionality before we deploy to the live system.
The BETA version is primarily designed for development and testing of functional changes which have been completed by the EDGE development team. Due to the nature of its intended purpose, we have identified that the BETA version is inherently unsuitable for demonstrations as we continue to introduce new features and maintain the existing application. As BETA is a pre-production system, there is also the risk that defects may have been introduced to the application during the software development process. In addition, the EDGE BETA database may also need to be removed from service without notice for routine upgrades and maintenance, and as such the EDGE team cannot guarantee system availability or that data entered on to the BETA system will remain in place.
We recognise that users need a reliable platform for demonstration and training purposes. We have therefore created EDGE DEMO which can be accessed at http://edgedemo.edge.nhs.uk. We have created this using a direct copy of the BETA system in order for you to continue to use your existing username and password in the new DEMO system. Additionally, any data you had previously recorded on EDGE BETA will also be available.
Going forward: We would advise you to use EDGE DEMO for demonstration and training purposes as this will allow you to carry out such activity in a safe, secure and reliable dedicated training environment which will be an exact match of the live system. Please remember that EDGE BETA will now only be available for the purposes of User Acceptance Testing, and as such may be unavailable without notice.
What is an ORCID identifier?
Open Research and Contributor ID
An ORCID identifier aims to solve the name ambiguity problem in research by creating a central registry of unique identifiers for individual researchers as well as creating a linking mechanism between ORCID and other current researcher ID schemes. It aims to allow researchers to easily and uniquely attach their identity to research objects such as articles, experiments and datasets. ORCID records hold non-sensitive information such as name, email, organisation and research activities.
About ORCID
ORCID is a non-profit organisation supported by a global community of organisational members. These include publishers, funders, stakeholders and professional associations. It is governed by a Board of Directors and supported by a professional team of people.
How to get your ORCID ID?
ORCID promotes a way of distinguishing yourself in three easy steps:
Register (Get your unique ORCID identifier in 30 seconds)
Add your info (You can enhance your ORCID record with your professional information and link to your other identifiers.
Use your ORCID ID (Include your ORCID identifier on webpages, grant applications and in research workflows.)
Register for a free ORCID ID here.
ORCID & EDGE
The ORCID identifier will be making its way onto the EDGE system soon…watch this space!
If you are interested in finding more about ORCID then please visit their website here.
Microsoft support update
Microsoft will be ending support from 12/01/2016 for older versions of Internet explorer. This means that from this date only the most current version of IE available for a supported operating system will receive security updates and technical support.
For more information and to check out Microsoft’s official announcement click here.
EDGE support update
Following on from this we would like to remind you that we only offer reduced support for EDGE in Internet Explorer 7.
We strongly recommend using IE11 or the latest version of Chrome for the best EDGE experience.
New Space
Here at EDGE we have recently moved from our previous basement location to a much more lighter, brighter and bigger space. Now we have a great working area including a large meeting space for those Monday morning meetings, a smaller meeting room which is great for teleconferences and training sessions, as well as separate offices for both our Knowledge and Development team.
New Staff- Knowledge
As we moved into our new space this May we also had new staff members join. We have expanded the knowledge team with a new Knowledge officer and three new Knowledge Support Analysts. Our new Knowledge Officer is Nicky Morris, who has come from a computer software company where she worked as a project manager. From her previous experience Nicky brings fantastic skills and knowledge of IT to our team.
The first of the Knowledge Support Analyst’s is Joshua Lovejoy who previously worked as a Research Governance Officer and lead EDGE admin in a busy R&D department. Second, we have Beth Caruana who also comes from an R&D background as well as having experience in Clinical Trials within pharmacy. And last, but not least we have Pat Oxford who not long ago graduated and gained a degree in Molecular Biology and is already proving himself to be a bit of a computer whiz.
New Staff- Development
We have also recently gained a new member to the development team, Matt Andrews. Matt worked as a Test Analyst for a company called Denplan before landing a job in the capital of the UK as a QA Analyst. Here at EDGE Matt is filling the new role of Test Lead.
New Staff– Delivery
We also have Baljinder (Bal) Gill who is also filling a new post as Head of Delivery and Operations. Previously, Bal worked as a Strategy and Business planning manager and has extensive sales and marketing experience.
Steph & Kenny
We currently have Steph, our intern and Kenny a research fellow currently working with us.
Steph is currently assisting on a range of projects in both the Clinical Informatics Research Unit and Institute for Life Sciences at the University of Southampton, where she completed her BSc Psychology degree earlier this year. The main project that Steph is working on surrounds the research, development and testing of a healthcare app that will assist NHS medical staff in their treatment of patients and improve patient experience. At the end of her internship Steph is heading off to Sri Lanka for 3 months to volunteer in hospitals, schools, and rehabilitation centres where she will put her psychology background to good use by providing much needed support to the local mental health services. In the long term, Steph is looking forward to completing a Masters in Neuropsychology in order to pursue a career in research.
Kenny is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton. He completed his Ph.D. in Psychology in March 2015 and is currently working on a research project here at EDGE. Kenny is investigating whether psychological characteristics of cancer patients predict treatment satisfaction and quality of life in patients undergoing treatment. He is also exploring how likely psychological characteristics influence additional use of health services throughout treatment. He is working towards validating a psychosocial screening tool which alerts to healthcare professionals which patients are potentially “at risk” of experiencing difficulties throughout their treatment and, thus, may need additional help and support.
James Batchelor, Director of CIRU, and EDGE Knowledge Officer, Dave Osler, attended the 2015 Annual R&D Forum. This took place at the Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel on the 5th and 6th May 2015. The event was for everyone who is involved in the planning, managing and delivering of R&D in the NHS.
The forum was extremely informative and acted as a fantastic opportunity to meet new people and catch up with a number of R&D professionals from across the UK including Research Nurses, R&D Managers and Research Governance Officers.
For more information about the event, including slides from the presenters please visit: www.annualrdforum.org.uk
