> So we should be thinking about a custom plugin?  And
> nothing like this has been done so far?
Nope.

> What sort of programming skills should I be looking
> for in either a CS student or programmer for hire?
This is probably a good project for a CS student ; but the main thing is to
know what you want to acheive: what kind of platform, what king of information
should be transmitted, and how (through a database ? through an http server
?)