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eResearch Infrastructure

The Australian Commonwealth Government is supporting the enhancement of Australian eResearch infrastructure through two sets of investments:

  • The development of the Platforms for Collaboration components of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (see NCRIS under Quick Links), that provide a total of $82 million between 2007 and 2011

  • The development of eResearch components of the Super Science Initiatives (see Super Science under Quick Links), that provide a further $312 million between 2009 and 2013

Both investments are an outcome of the NCRIS Roadmap 2008 and its subsequent update in 2010, available here (2.8Mb pdf), which underlined the critical importance of eResearch Infrastructure to future research competitiveness.

The investment in eResearch is intended to enhance research collaborations, assist researchers to manage massive data sets, and provide super-computing and analysis tools that enable Australian researchers to tackle the complex, national and global issues needed to secure Australia's future.

The capabilities being implemented are similar to those in major international jurisdictions familiar to the Australia academic community. Links to similar overseas infrastructure developments are available for Europe and links will be provided shortly for the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Components of Australian eResearch Infrastructure

Each component is implemented through agreements that take into account the different funds sources and the different governance arrangements that suit specific activities. The following table lists the organizations related to each investment; the further details of which can be accessed by following the relevant links.

The ongoing development of the eResearch landscape is co-ordinated by the Australian eResearch Infrastructure Council.

Function Activity Program Goals
Co-ordination AeRIC Assist co-ordination and guidance across the overall investment.
Problem Oriented Digital Laboratories ($69M) NeCTAR SuperScience Develop digitally enabled laboratories, underpinned by improved software based research tools and virtualised server and cloud support infrastructures, and showcase 21st Century Discovery by combining these capabilities with HPC, storage and network resources.
ARCS NCRIS Develop and deploy collaboration tools and services that support research teams and research workflows accessing instrument, compute and data resources nationwide.
Research Data Commons ($75M) ANDS SuperScience Build out of the Australian Research Data Commons by extending its underpinning infrastructure into institutions and by significantly expanding the content in the Commons.
  NCRIS Establish an Australian data commons to support the data federations needed by 21st century research.
ASSDA NCRIS Expand the content and analysis capabilities of the Australian Social Science Data Archive.
Shared Access Methods ($2M) AAF DIISR Provide sector wide researcher authentication services supporting single sign on functionality.
Larger Data collections ($50M) RDSI SuperScience Develop and enhance shared data services by building data storage infrastructure to support retention and access services relevant to identified nationally significant data assets.
Better HPC Modelling ($106M) in two new Petascale Centres ($50M) NCI SuperScience Extend the NCI systems towards the peta-scale in support of climate, earth systems science and water research.
  NCRIS Provide capability computing able to support the advanced models of complex systems required in major research activities.
Pawsey SuperScience Establish a peta-scale computing resource targeting SKA and other modeling demands in nanotechnology, biotechnology, geo informatics, engineering, atomic physics, chemistry, and mineralogy.
Extended Bandwidth ($37M) NRN SuperScience Provide research enabling advanced network services.

Background Information

The NCRIS investments involved four key elements of functionality, recognising that each involved an identifiable community of practice and required its own specialized expertise and ICT investment methodologies.

platforms image

The Super Science Investments extended those investments to six identifiable components.

Super Science image

Further information is available as follows:

  • Click here for a recent slide presentation covering the overall investment arrangements.

  • Click here for information on the history of the Platforms for Collaboration Capability.

  • Click here for information on the Super Science budget measures.

  • Click here for information on the National eResearch Architecture Taskforce (NeAT) and details of the service developments related to identified research community needs underway within the Platforms for Collaboration investments.
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Topic revision: r63 - 12 Oct 2010 - 04:01:15 - RhysFrancis
 

eResearch Infrastructure

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