I-Corps: FloWorks - A Modern Infrastructure for Spatiotemporal Data Modeling and Analysis

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

This goal of this Innovation Corps project is to explore the commercial viability of software tools developed as part of the Cybercommons for Ecological Forecasting. The IT Informatics Team at The University of Oklahoma has developed a flexible suite of modular software components for data cataloging, modeling and analysis/visualization. The Innovation Corps curriculum and associated funding will be used to: i) rapidly explore target markets with data management and modeling challenges; ii) create an actionable strategy for developing a small business; iii) packaging and enhancing existing software tools as a fee-based hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, which can meet an expressed need for data collection and modeling. As data sets grow larger, it becomes necessary to present new computational tools and paradigms to traditionally non-computational disciplines. Expanding the commercial opportunities for applying this toolset will continue to advance the usability and research capabilities of the tools, while expanding avenues for commercial application of ecological forecasting and related science. The proposed activity, developing commercial applications for an existing software research infrastructure, will have broader impacts in several areas. It will provide a significant expansion of the user community for these research software tools, enabling the opportunity to enhance usability and robustness of the tools. If successful, this activity will improve the commercial viability of software tools, thus enhancing the research competitiveness of the region.