Current Science Group becomes Science Navigation Group

Current Science Group — the parent company of open access publisher BioMed Central — has changed its name to Science Navigation Group, effective from 1st January 2006.

The name change comes in the wake of the recent sale of Current Medicine Group to Springer Science+Business Media, a transaction that saw Springer also acquire the name Current Science.

Explains Science Navigation Group's Grace Baynes: "One of the companies sold to Springer was called Current Science Inc. Since we were planning to re-brand the Current Science Group we did not require Springer to change the name of the company they acquired." She adds "The new name Science Navigation Group more accurately reflects the mix of businesses we are now involved in."

As the company's press release explains, the independent companies that make up the Group have "increasingly moved into navigation, and Science Navigation Group reflects that the Group's businesses are both science and navigation focused."

In addition to BioMed Central (which currently publishes 140 open access journals) other companies in the Science Navigation Group include the life sciences journal The Scientist; Biology Reports, which publishes a literature evaluation service called Faculty of 1000 Biology; Medicine Reports, which publishes an online literature evaluation service called Faculty of 1000 Medicine; and Current BioData, which creates scientific databases for the pharmaceutical research community.

Indeed, the list of businesses in Science Navigation Group provides an interesting insight into where Vitek Tracz, who owns the companies, sees future investment opportunities in the science and technology publishing and information services space.

There are, for instance, also companies like Telmap, a technology and software provider in the mobile mapping arena, and Mapa Internet, a supplier of location-based services, and navigation and telematic applications for the web and mobile platforms; and there are companies like UK DataPoint, a UK events database company, and Mapa Mapping and Publishing, a publisher of maps, atlases, and travel, food and leisure guides for Israel.

Finally, there is Peoples Archive, an online collection of autobiographical videos of great thinkers and creators.

Science Navigation Group has its head office in London (UK), with additional offices in Philadelphia, Chicago, Geneva, Amsterdam, Oslo and Tel Aviv.