A Message from the New ARDC CEO, Rosie Hicks

What’s my motivation for taking up this role? That’s easy to answer. I firmly believe in the underpinning importance of digital technology to the success of Australian research, and our ability to translate that research and to capture the impact. At the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) we have a unique opportunity to influence and shape Australia’s digital environment. And I wanted to be part of that.

The ARDC is part of the wider digital infrastructure and research system, and the ARDC are not seeking to transform the environment alone. This is why creating a research data commons involves us all. Our clarity of thinking and our strategy works to bring other people and organisations on this journey with us. One of our strengths is our organisational culture: the skill, dedication, vision and creativity of our outstanding team of people. They ensure that we continue our mission to excel in every one of our touchpoints.

Like many of our partners, we operate under the same NCRIS principles, including the need to invest in areas where Australian research is world class and to foster productivity and economic growth. This is reflected in the ARDC vision: transforming the digital infrastructure to support leading edge research and innovation.

The ARDC vision guides our strategy, which we use as a tool to make sound investment decisions. With this, we have already been able to make a substantial impact through the ARDC’s recent open call for Discovery Activities. The Discovery Activities received a fantastic response, with nearly 140 applications for Data and Services and another 26 for the very specific set of questions asked by Storage and Compute.

Looking ahead, we are determined to focus our creative energy on enhancing the ever-expanding potential of our Australian researchers. I look forward to working with you all in making this transformation happen.