NCRIS: Platforms for CollaborationDr Rhys Francis National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) Dr Rhys Francis Executive Director Australian

NCRIS: Platforms for Collaboration Dr Rhys Francis

National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS)

Dr Rhys Francis

Executive Director

Australian eResearch Infrastructure Council

Platforms for Collaboration


What NCRIS Brings

• NCRIS brings a strategic approach to

Australia’s investment in research infrastructure

• Priority capability areas for support have been

identified in the NCRIS Roadmap

• Investments will support core NCRIS goals:

support research excellence, promote

collaboration, provide national benefit


NCRIS Investments

$540M over the five years: 2007-2011

• Evolving bio-molecular platforms and informatics • Integrated biological systems• Characterisation• Fabrication • Biotechnology products• Optical and radio astronomy• Integrated marine capability• Structure and evolution of the Australian

continent

• Networked biosecurity framework

• Population health and clinical data linkage

• Terrestrial ecosystem research network

Platforms for Collaboration (allocated $75M)




There was a time when information processing of any kind depended on human mental effort

• communication was between people• everything made was hand made• all decisions were a product of mind

None of this is now true

ICT is changing our world

It has never been possible before to speak to anyone in the world

ICT delivered that ability to 8% of the world’s population by 1990, over about a century

That has grown to an astonishing 40% over just the last 15 years

ICT means that voice and images can be sent from anyone in the world to anyone else in the world, at a moments notice, anywhere.

It has never been possible for anyone to publish information and have it accessible to everyone

This possibility is now available to more than 15% of the world’s population

The web shows the highest growth rate of any technology adoption ever

The democratisation of information

Until now, it was only possible to socialise, work or play with neighbours

ICT is drawing this “tyranny of distance” to a close

New collaboration, immersion and remote presence technologies stand poised to redefine human interaction

Our society was shaped by a truth:only people process information

Now, ICT gathers and processes information faster, more reliably and in inhuman quantities

Effects include:• economic globalisation• integrated supply chains • remote monitoring and control• entirely new knowledge• an emerging inhuman cyber world

Why Does ICT Matter?


Factors over the next decade

Capacity Moore’s law, clock speed (?), bandwidth, storage density, nano, photonics

Connectivity Internet, wireless, mobile, coverage, always connected, never lost, globalisation

Content Born digital, imaging, sensing, modelling, simulating, aggregating, relating, sharing

Human interface Speech, 3d projection/sound, haptics, non-rigid displays, visualisation, immersion

Products Ubiquitous computing, smart appliances, automation, labour reduction

Complexity Robustness, seamlessness, self-organising, evolutionary, not understood

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Platforms for Collaboration

NCRIS ROADMAP RELATED ISSUES

• Data access and discovery,

storage and management

• Grid enabled technologies

and infrastructures

• Technical expertise

• High performance

computing

• High capacity

communication networks

• Sharing researcher identities across

all systems

• Allowing researchers and resource

owners to control who can do what to

their resources

• Expanding the e-Research

community to “non-builder” users

• Engaging the broader NCRIS

community


Investments

• Collaboration– Discipline/Capability services (tools ((and software))– User and Operations support– Collaboration support services

• Data– Outreach, curation, data management services– Meta-services, location, access, movement– Collections brokerage and hosting services

• Computing – National computing facility (capability computing)– Collaborative national computing environment

• Foundation (Access)– Australian Access Federation– The Australian Research and Education Network


AeRIC

Composition Role

• An independent Chair

• An Executive Director

• A DEST Principal Adviser

• 8 members drawn from providers and users of e-Research capabilities

• The executive director will have a small secretariat to assist programme management

• Determine strategic directions and variations to components

• Convene an e-Research community forum to provide advice

• Review the annual business plans prepared by the Executive Director and PfC components

• Make recommendations to DEST and NCRIS

The Australian eResearch Infrastructure Council


Contractual Structure

ARENAAF*

AeRIC

Executive Director

NEAT

Secretariat

ComputationalInfrastructure

Agent

Interoperation& Collaboration

InfrastructureAgent

Data ManagementInfrastructure

Agent*

Contract between DEST and agent


Foundation Services: AREN and AAF

Data Tools & Discipline

Services

Proposed arrangement

Compute Tools & Discipline

Services

Interoperation &CollaborationInfrastructure

Researchers and research communitiesResource owners and operators

Users and User-Builders

New tools, services & expertise


National e-ResearchArchitecture TaskforceNEAT

Foundation Services: AREN and AAF

Data Tools & Discipline

Services

Compute Tools & Discipline

Services

Interoperation &CollaborationInfrastructure

New tools, services & expertise

Researchers and research communitiesResource owners and operators

Users and User-Builders



The Australian National Data Service

Goals:

• Research infrastructure and data should be accessible:– to a range of users – research community, government, states and territories; and– under controlled, authenticated but simple access regimes.

• Access should be independent of location – network infrastructure should therefore be robust and reliable

• Data should be discoverable, accessible, managed and long-lived

• The effect of the investments by governments and research communities in research and education should be maximised

ANDS will:• deliver greater access to Australia's research data assets in forms that

support easier and more effective data use and re-use


The PMSEICData for Science Working Group

• Suggested a cooperative, Whole of Government approach within a National Strategic Framework

• Key Recommendations included:– National network of data repositories

– Improve sharing and collaboration

– Increase skilled workforce for best practice in data management

• Activities addressing these include:

– Research Quality Framework

– Australian Access Federation

– Accessibility Framework

– Australian National Data Services


One map of the space

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Collections;Data published,

local repositories

CRCs MNRFs Centres; Data may be used, sharedor published

Services: stores, repositories, tools, expertise

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Institutions Researchers ANDS

Develop and implement policy on data ownership

Provide guidelines to researchers on ownership and their responsibilities

Maintain durable records on data held and ensure it is under the control of the institution where the work was performed

Provide secure systems for holding data and for granting access to that data

Determine what data to keep, considering research community practice and project or legal requirements

Ensure research data is retained using institutionally provided mechanisms (5 years)

Ensure that data retention passes to the institution

Keep confidentiality where it exists

Provide utilities needed by the Data Commons

Broker solutions for collections to fast track e‑Research development

Build expertise and provide outreach services, ‘training the trainers’

Ensure promulgation and use of simplified legal frameworks and access templates


One way to the Data Commons


But it is a much bigger problem


courtesy Adrian Burton, Markus Buchhorn, Chris Blackall








ANDS Objectives

• Improve data management systems

• Improve data collection and management practices

• Improve the national data management environment

• Enhance data discovery and access

• Increase data re-use

• Enable Australian participation in international and

multidisciplinary research


ANDS Implementation

• NCRIS contract to a managing agent• A joint venture between a small number of leading practitioner

organizations and/or institutions• An overall ANDS Steering committee

– Members of the J/V– Essential representatives (perhaps AGIMO, AAF)– Selected representatives of user communities and providers

• An Executive Director and four Program Directors– Providing the core management team, reporting to the S/C

• An implementation for each program– Frameworks: 4-5 staff plus expertise by contract– Utilities: service development by projects and provision by contract– Repositories: a small number of centres of expertise– Researcher Practice: project activities determined with user

communities and agreed with NeAT - delivered nationally


Start Date…

January 2008

Thank you!


Documents

NCRIS: Platforms for CollaborationDr Rhys Francis National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) Dr Rhys Francis Executive Director Australian