<p>The University of Southampton is planning on ditching its Sharepoint installation to publish equipment and asset data, after developing an interface with UNIT4 that connects to its Agresso ERP platform and publishes data into an online, open database.</p><p>This interface was developed in response to a number of mandates and cuts that have been made by Research Councils UK that promote equipment sharing both within and across educations institutions in the UK. Capital budgets have been reduced by 50 per cent across the Research Councils, and the aim is to get the best possible value from existing investments avoiding needless duplication of equipment.</p><p>Adrian Cox, project manager at the University of Southampton, was speaking this week at UNIT4's customer conference in Birmingham, where he explained how the Research Council's cuts spawned the Uniquip Project.</p><p>"Uniquip is about looking at defining the standards for cataloguing and publishing information about research facilities and equipment within our databases. We have been working with Uniquip, because we felt it was a requirement if this sharing of data across institutions is going to work nationally," said Cox.</p><p><a href="http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/applications/3434957/university-ditching-sharepoint-for-unit4-publish-open-linked-data/">Keep reading...</a></p>