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Intersect Australia. Overview - September 2009 Ian Gibson, CEO ian.gibson@intersect.org.au. Intersect: One page summary. A company established by its founding members to provide eResearch services to its members Members are: USyd, UNSW, UTS, MQ, Newcastle, Southern Cross and UNE
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Intersect Australia Overview - September 2009 Ian Gibson, CEO ian.gibson@intersect.org.au
Intersect: One page summary • A company established by its founding members to provide eResearch services to its members • Members are: • USyd, UNSW, UTS, MQ, Newcastle, Southern Cross and UNE • Discussing with other organisations about joining • Formally established July 2008, practically started Nov 2008 • Current staff: 35 • Intersect is the NSW member of ARCS (http://www.arcs.org.au/) • Several of our programs are funded through ARCS • Received $2.8M is start-up funding from the NSW government eResearch is the application of advanced information & communication technologies to the practice of research
Intersect: Mission Statement Work with NSW Universities and others to increase the quality, efficiency and visibility of NSW based research through the provision of advanced and specialised ICT services and solutions, enabling: - improved management of research data - new methods for collaboration - new research methodologies
Intersect: Staff profile 1 CEO 1 1 Engineering Division Services Division Admin Project Management Office 2 Member Support 5 4 HR 1 User Interaction Design HPC Support 1 Accounts 3 SW Engineering ARCS Services 8 Communications 1 4 System Admin & Eng 2 ARCS Auth’n Services Office Admin 1 1 Quality Assurance 1 ANDS (Data) Services Learning and Development 1
Member Interaction and Delivery Member Institutional and Faculty Services: IT, Library etc Intersect eResearch Analysts Intersect eResearch Analysts Intersect eResearch Analysts Intersect service and technology aggregation and customisation Intersect Specialised support HPC, data management, L&D,… Intersect Projects
Services Division Dr Markus Buchhorn Director of Services
Intersect services • Provided by Intersect (and other) resources • Our people and infrastructure • Also: • NSW member of ARCS • Partner in NCI (soon) • Deeply engaged with ANDS • Working closely with other state eResearch agencies • Try to ignore the acronym soup • Delivered • through institutional frameworks, as appropriate, • for Researchers and for Support Staff
Technical Services • High-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure • Through specialised and appropriate facilities • Two clusters hosted at ac3 (soon one); share in NCI from 2010 • Ability to buy more • Scale from institution/desktop through ‘shoulder’ facility to peak, with merit and dedicated access • Data services • Storage infrastructure: • Phase 1a: small scale local investment • Phase 1b: $100k to purchase more disk • Phase 2: LIEF application – “NeRDs” • Phase 3: EIF funding via ARCS • Support for management, preservation and access (with ANDS) • Collaboration, Authentication & authorisation services • Sharing and working together, with appropriate access limits
Direct (User) Services • Awareness, outreach, advocacy • What is out there, and what could be out there? • Skills development for researchers and for support staff • “Training”, face-to-face and on-demand • Online, in print, etc. • Building off existing materials as far as possible, but attuned to needs • Advice on e-research methods, opportunities • Project development support and IT consulting • for projects during Scoping, Development and Operation • Support for community building • E.g. Websites, wikis, forums and document sharing, mailing lists, etc. • Support for meetings, events • Helpdesk services • in coordination with member institutions.
Strategic Services • Requirements analysis • To understand strategically what researchers need • Surveys, in various forms • To support institutional, state and national planning frameworks • Enhancing the community’s skills-base • Finding appropriate people, and making them available for quick starts • Developing their skills, and offering career paths beyond research projects • Solution development and “hardening” • Creating new tools/services, and • Making existing tools/services more robust, user-friendly, higher-performance, properly supported • Support for funding applications to maximise outcomes • Proper scoping of ICT and people requirements • Assisting and coordinating across groups, institutions, ... • Linkages • Groups with solutions need to find groups with problems • And vice versa!
Engineering Division Chris Mendes Director of Engineering
What do we do? • We create new technology • Web sites • Applications • Databases • Other cool stuff • We build & roll out infrastructure
Key Goals • Provide value to members in a fair and equitable way • Develop re-usable technologies • Develop ‘package-able’ solutions which can become services in the future • Bring solid engineering practices to eResearch and raise capability across the sector • Provide ‘Delivery Management’ for projects and services
Funding Basis • “Innovation Projects” • Funded through membership fees • Strategic selection process by the Innovation Committee • Externally Funded • ANDS/ARCS • There’s a lot of this happening at the moment. • From other sources
Innovation Projects • Intersect undertakes “Innovation Projects” as a part of the services provided to our member institutions. • http://www.intersect.org.au/innovation-projects
Innovation Projects • The committee: • Bases selection on a strategic view of the eResearch needs of NSW and Australia. This will draw on: • NSW & national research priorities; • needs of researchers at member institutions; • the value and quality of the supported research. • Devises projects that meet the needs of researchers across institutions and even across disciplines. • Selects projects to provide benefits fairly across our member institutions.
Innovation Projects Selection Process NSW Govt’s Strategic Research Priorities ➌ ➊ ➍ Define Candidate Projects Determine NSW eResearch Strategic Needs Assessment ➋ Review … Consultation across member institutions Consultation with other key stakeholders Candidate project scope documents Suggested Priority List NSW eResearch Strategic Needs Report List of Candidate Projects ➏ ➎ Proposed List of Candidate Projects Review and Select Projects Quarterly Review … Intersect Team Priority List & Selection Intersect Executive Innovation Committee
A good example: GDM • Genomic Data Management • Our next innovation project
GDM – Why is it a good example? • A clear strategic direction • A clear need • Lots of collaborators • Lots of institutions amongst our members • Other groups will benefit as well
For today… • We want to understand your needs • …today is the start of that process. • Follow Jim’s lead – he has some questions/conversation starters. • Keep the GDM example inthe back of your mind during your discussions. • Do please call on your local eResearch Analyst!