The latest version of HUBzero, an open source cyberinfrastructure in a box, with new capability to create collaborative project areas within a hub, federated identity management, email integration, design improvements, and dozens of other new features will be released at HUBbub 2012, the annual HUBzero users conference in September.

HUBzero, developed at Purdue University, already is in use by 40 virtual communities for research, education and training in fields ranging from nanotechnology and cancer treatment to earthquake engineering and the bonds between human and companion animals.

The two-day HUBbub 2012 conference for researchers, practitioners, educators and IT professionals engaged in building and using cyberinfrastructure is Sept. 24-25 at the IUPUI University Place Conference Center, 850 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, Ind. For more information and to register, go to: http://hubzero.org/hubbub.

HUBbub 2012 includes sessions for both people already using a hub who want to learn more, and for those curious about hubs or interested in employing the open source release of HUBzero to establish their own.

Among the highlights in the latest version of the HUBzero software:
* A new project-management, collaboration tool for managing data, workflow and communication whether the task is working on a funding proposal, a research paper or developing an application. Projects include a Git-based file repository with version history keeping; wiki space for notes and documentation; to-do lists; and a Facebook-like microblogging tool providing a stream of project updates from team members with the ability to comment on activities.
* Federated identity allowing integration with social networking sites. Users can log into a hub using their Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn accounts, meaning one less password to remember.
* A hub email gateway that automatically processes forum posts and support tickets, making it easier for users to receive status messages and reply to them directly without having to leave email and go to the hub.
* User interface and tag improvements including cleaner, configurable administrative and starter templates; a sleeker, better integrated user profile page; and tags with new categorization options, aliases and version histories.

Originally developed for nanoHUB.org, HUBzero is an open source software platform used to build websites for scientific and other kinds of research and for education and training. Today, hubs are serving virtual communities in translational health care, engineering education, microelectromechanical systems, volcanology, professional and research ethics, environmental modeling and biofuels, among other topics.

A major HUBzero feature is its ability to deploy computational research codes, and visualize and analyze results, all through a Web browser. It makes posting tools about as easy as posting a YouTube video and eases the task of accessing high-performance and cloud supercomputing systems. Moreover, the platform has a growing set of data management tools. Built-in social networking features create communities in almost any field and facilitate communication and collaboration, distribution of research results, training and education.