A cloud-based, social platform from OpenText is helping underpin the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2011, being held in Perth, this week.

Commonwealth Connects is a  social media portal developed through contributions of Commonwealth countries including Canada, India, Australia and Singapore, and is based on OpenText technology.

“There are a whole range of important applications for Commonwealth Connects, including helping youth groups or government officials from across the Commonwealth collaborate; playing a role in election monitoring; or helping to fuel economic growth through digital business enablement,” said Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma.

“Commonwealth Connects is an innovative platform that sets the Commonwealth apart from other inter-governmental organisations,” said Tom Jenkins, Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer at OpenText.

“No other organisation has tried to use technology to help unite this many people – two billion around the world.  Commonwealth is off to an excellent start and we’re excited to see Commonwealth Connects introduced this year at CHOGM 2011.”

OpenText provides the social collaboration platform for the G-20 meetings, multiple national governments and Canada 3.0, which is dedicated to defining a digital strategy for Canada.

In addition to working together to create Commonwealth Connects, Open Text and the Commonwealth are working together to help speed technology adoption in member countries of the Commonwealth by jointly supporting the development of effective national strategies for information and communication technology (ICT) adoption and use.