Formulating an Expertise Map in the VRL-KCiP

The Virtual Research Laboratory for a Knowledge Community in Production (VRL-KCiP) is a network of 27 carefully selected partner research laboratories located in 16 different countries that have coordinated to build a knowledge community in the field of design and manufacturing research (www.vrlkcip. org). The VRL-KCiP comprises over 300 multilingual, multicultural and multidisciplinary researchers, both permanent staff and graduate students. Expertise mapping was identified as a key process for integrating the network researchers to create the desired cooperation, collaboration and synergy required for network success, due to the inherent nature of the network.