An update on the NeSI AgResearch Partnership as the rubber hits the road
Georgina Rae1, Ben Taylor2, Thomas Berger1, Blair Bethwaite1 1New Zealand eScience Infrastructure, Auckland New Zealand2AgResearch, Lincoln New Zealand
Abstract
Situation
It has been two years since AgResearch and NeSI signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing to design and deliver a future-focused eResearch Platform together. This partnership emerged out of a culmination of
– Research sector reviews emphasising the need for greater collaboration
– Local need to replace legacy infrastructure
– Local need to mitigate risks around having only a few local experts
– National need to build scale
Tasks
Build a partnership between two organisations, two working cultures, to support researchers with new services on new infrastructure while building national scale and mitigating risk for AgResearch. To complement this the partnership takes on broader aspirations for AgResearch eResearch capability, incorporating training, research data management & data governance, and communities of practice.
Action
– User need driven co-design of the new eResearch Infrastructure
– Maintaining existing services while building the new ones
– Establish a partnership, bringing together two+ organisations
– Changing ways of working both for the researchers consuming services, but also for the teams supporting them
Results
We now have users consuming the new services, but it has taken a long time and there is still a lot to do to fully leverage the power of the new technology and implement our initial designs. This talk will present where we are up to, celebrate some of our wins and share some of our learning from the challenging moments along the way.
Biography
Georgina is the Science Engagement Manager at NeSI where she ensures that NeSI is building strong relationships with the research sector. Prior to NeSI she has worked in molecular biology and intellectual property. She is passionate about enabling research and is interested in the fundamental shifts required to level up scientific research.
Ben is the Infrastructure, Knowledge and Security Manager at AgResearch.