Mr Benjamin Wu1
1Netapp, North Sydney, Australia
Biography:
Ben Wu is Executive Architect for Business Consulting at NetApp, where he leads data strategy engagements across research and higher education institutions in Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region. With a background in systemic optimisation and digital transformation, Ben works at the intersection of research, policy, and infrastructure—helping organisations navigate the complex demands of modern data ecosystems.
His expertise lies in enabling institutions to unlock the full value of research data by aligning technology, governance, and practice around frameworks such as DAMA’s DMBOK and various eResearch standards and taxonomies. Ben is particularly focused on delivering relentless optimisation—reducing friction, improving agility, and driving sustainable performance across the full data lifecycle.
Ben’s strategic influence is grounded in practical outcomes. He helps research leaders translate bold ideas—such as portable research infrastructures, intelligent data fabrics, and lifecycle-aware storage—into operational capabilities that empower researchers, data stewards, and institutional IT alike. His architectural approaches are designed to be adaptable, scalable, and deeply attuned to the evolving needs of distributed research models, including the rise of global “pop-up” campuses.
As a regular contributor to national eResearch discussions and forums, Ben advocates for coherent, standards-aligned data ecosystems that enhance collaboration, reuse, and long-term value realisation. His work continues to shape how research-intensive organisations design, manage, and scale the digital foundations that underpin scientific discovery.
Abstract:
As research leaders respond to increasing funding volatility, many institutions are evolving into distributed ecosystems—extending core capabilities via international partnerships, satellite programs, and aptly-named “pop-up campuses.” These environments demand agility, but often inherit a patchwork of incompatible data practices that limit reuse, add friction, and jeopardise compliance. This presentation addresses how a unified approach to research data architecture—anchored by a national taxonomy—can enable consistency, flexibility, and researcher-centric data experiences across fragmented landscapes.
Focusing on Australian institutions and their global research presence, the presentation outlines patterns for building adaptive, intelligent infrastructure that reflects the lived workflows of researchers. These patterns support responsive data services that scale with the project, enable portable environments, and maintain lifecycle integrity even when research is transient, collaborative, or globally dispersed.
The core insight is that a nationally standardised taxonomy does more than improve metadata—it becomes the backbone for federated services, classification-aware storage, and interoperable data governance. When applied to research storage and metadata systems, this framework allows institutions to project their data capabilities into new environments rapidly, while maintaining coherence with their compliance, performance, and access policies.
Examples from multi-site deployments will highlight how alignment and infrastructure abstraction together reduce administrative burden, lower onboarding friction, and empower research staff to move fluidly between platforms without sacrificing oversight or performance.
The talk concludes with practical recommendations for eResearch professionals and data architects aiming to optimise for a future where research is no longer tied to place, but must remain tied to standards of quality, reuse, and experience.