TORONTO - The Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) introduces an online collaboration and professional networking service for Ontario researchers and educators. Being launched at the Royal Ontario Museum today, O3 Collaboration gives researchers and educators a powerful combination of the latest social networking and content management tools to help accelerate research and support advanced teaching and learning.

Available at no cost to researchers, students and educators at ORION-connected institutions, O3 is designed to become the “go-to” place to find colleagues and experts working on related topics or similar themes, share ideas, gain feedback from different academic perspectives on early research, build communities of interest, and work with team members online. Phil Baker, ORION President and CEO with speakers Dr. Krzysztof Grzymski, Vice-President, World Cultures, ROM and David Phipps, Director, Research Services & Knowledge Exchange, York University will present. Guests will participate in a live virtual classroom demonstration in the Earth Rangers Studio of the ROM’s new Schad Gallery of Biodiversity.