The Scottish Stem Cell Network (SSCN) work with the entire stem cell community of Scotland, from academic researchers to commercialisation experts, to improve communication and collaboration between all areas in order to improve the rate at which laboratory research translates into therapeutic benefits.

SSCN wanted to provide members with an online platform to facilitate this communication and interaction, highlighting stem cell events, stem cell news, job opportunities, member capabilities and provide a centralised resource for important documentation and media files relating to all aspects of stem cell research and commercialisation. SSCN also wanted to provide the general public with information on their activities and the progress in development of treatments for degenerative diseases involving stem cells.

Web Wise Business were selected for the task and we quickly set about making use of our extensive experience and skill in developing community websites and web functionality.

With such a significant volume of information intended to appear on the website, it was important to work with SSCN in order to develop clear and structured navigation and taxonomy to ensure that users wouldn't be left confused or unable to access the content they were after. Through discussion and collaboration with the SSCN project team, we were able to produce a navigation structure that is clear and simple to follow, with most pages having quick links to related content.

The easy to use navigation structure was also employed throughout the secure members-only area, incorporating descriptions of the various interactive elements of fucntionality and how to use them, with linking to related content and information such as in the Knowledge Base.

The SSCN Knowledge Base fills the need for a centralised, categorised and searchable resource of documentation and media files, allowing members to find information on a variety of topics related to both research and commercialisation of stem cell treatments. Members can also contribute files, ranging from simple text documents to videos, presentations and audio content, to the Knowledge Base. SSCN administrators have full moderation control to ensure that only content which has been properly vetted and approved appears within this continually growing resource.

As members can contribute almost all forms of content to the members area, including news, events, vacancies, research requests and offers, Knowledge Base entries and information on funding opportunities, the website clearly fulfils the aims of the Scottish Stem Cell Network in providing a platform for communication, learning and collaboration which they deem critical to the continued development of this exciting new technology in Scotland, the UK and globally.