IBM has previewed a mashup platform designed to allow "non-technical users" to assemble web 2.0 information applications without help from the IT department.

The IBM Mashup Starter Kit, available today at IBM alphaWorks, can combine information from databases, departments, personal users or the web.

The offering contains two key technologies. The Mashup Hub is a mashup server that stores information feeds in RSS, Atom or XML to enable reuse and collaboration.

Mashup Hub can also merge, transform, filter, annotate or publish information in new formats.

The other component, the newly-enhanced QEDWiki, serves as the user interface and allows non-IT users to 'mash' information from multiple data sources to create a single view of disparate sets of information.

"The combined solution of IBM's Mashup Starter Kit and JustSystems XFY product holds the promise of letting key decision makers within our business easily and rapidly unlock valuable data to address business needs," said Susumu Haraki, a vice director at Daiichi Sankyo, Japan's largest pharmaceutical company.

The IBM Mashup Starter Kit with the enhanced version of QEDWiki is available for download now from IBM's alphaWorks online community for early adopters.