Near-Time, Purdue Center for Regional Development Partner to Launch First Nationwide Community of Regions Focused on Workforce Innovation

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Near-Time announced a partnership with the Purdue Center for Regional Development to launch the first nationwide community of regions focused on innovation and economic development. This partnership is a spinoff of the U.S. Labor Department's WIRED Initiative. The new nationwide community is accessible at http://www.wired-nation.net.

“We are excited to partner with Purdue's Center for Regional Development to help take the WIRED initiative to the next level. Our partnership will result in regional and industry based communities that accelerate innovation for businesses of all sizes”

The Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative has seeded 39 regions across the country to focus on talent development to drive economic transformation in local regional economies. WIRED is the result of an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Labor Department, Employment and Training Administration. These regions have created hundreds of programs integrating education, workforce and economic development.

The Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD) and Near-Time are jointly guiding the development of the WIRED-Nation community. PCRD chose Near-Time as its partner because of the ease-of-use, flexibility, and integrated resources of the Near-Time platform. The goal now is to accelerate innovation across the regions by sharing insights, information, and cross-regional collaboration on a national level.

"We are excited to partner with Purdue's Center for Regional Development to help take the WIRED initiative to the next level. Our partnership will result in regional and industry based communities that accelerate innovation for businesses of all sizes," said Reid Conrad, CEO of Near-Time. "Near-Time's monetization services are enabling a whole new business model for self sustaining communities."

Near-Time is a hosted Web 2.0 collaboration and community platform that integrates wikis, weblogs, file sharing, forum and widget capabilities. Near-Time's intuitive interface is ideally suited for business professionals engaging in cross organizational interaction. Near-Time's monetization services enable community and content owners flexible business models that include support for paid membership and advertising.

"We have 39 regions across the country that are collaborating on very important programs to develop the 21st century skills required to compete effectively. Today, we are launching the first of a series of national 'innovation communities' designed to accelerate regional innovation," according to Ed Morrison, Economic Policy Advisor at PCRD. " Near-Time's unique monetization services will ensure that these vibrant communities will be able to create self-sustaining business models,” said Morrison.

About Near-Time

Near-Time is an award winning, on-demand enterprise 2.0 platform for cross organization collaboration. Business professionals can quickly create rich interaction with their prospects, customers, partners and suppliers. Near-Time integrates wikis, weblogs and forums to enable groups to work together more effectively in a secure, hosted environment. Near-Time users can securely share information, files and create group calendars. Near-Time is in use in over 40 nations by thousands of businesses, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations, to maximize internal and external collaboration. Near-Time patent pending Premium service leverages the Near-Time platform to enable organizations to monetize their communities and content. For more information, go to http://www.near-time.com/.

About Purdue Center for Regional Development

In February 2005, The Purdue Center for Regional Development was launched with the intent to engage in applied research, policy analysis, and technical assistance that addresses high-priority regional needs and policy issues; foster and broker networks and partnerships; and assist with strategic planning on a regional basis. For more information, go to http://www.purdue.edu/dp/pcrd/.