People Research Data Commons
We're now inviting participants for national-scale data infrastructure activities for health research and research translation.
Program
People Research Data Commons
Who will benefit
Health and biomedical researchers, industry, general public, government
Timeframe
Ongoing
Current Phase
Open for consultation
ARDC Co-investment
$15.8 million in total for the first 12 months
The Challenge
Health research is a national priority. Australia has world-class health research and industry thanks to significant investment in both research and the translation of health research to benefit the wider community. The driving force behind this pipeline from health research to impact is data and evidence-based healthcare improvements.
The national data landscape for health research is rich, diverse and complex — spanning multiple sectors, jurisdictions and data modalities. The sensitive nature of health data, combined with privacy and regulatory requirements, means there is a critical need for digital research infrastructure that can support secure and seamless national-scale research.
The Approach
A Thematic Research Data Commons (Thematic RDC) is a vehicle for the ARDC and our national partners to collaboratively develop and deliver sustainable digital research infrastructure on a national scale. It will enable us to best meet the needs of our diverse national research communities in a strategic and comprehensive way.
The People Research Data Commons (People RDC) is the first of 2 pilot Thematic RDCs launching in the 2022–23 financial year.
The People RDC will support health and biomedical researchers to develop cross-sector and multi-disciplinary data collaborations on a national scale through federated models. It will integrate underpinning compute, storage infrastructure and services with analysis platforms and tools that are supported by expertise, standards and best practices.
We’re taking a co-design approach to developing the People RDC through collaborative partnerships between research institutions, industry, government agencies and other relevant national stakeholders.
The initial consultations began in May 2022 to help define ‘what’ the People RDC will deliver and ‘how’ it can be delivered collaboratively with our partners.
The registration of interest for the initial consultations opened to all in May 2022, and roundtables were held in June 2022 (video below).
Beyond the initial consultations, ongoing engagement with stakeholders will help further define the scope of services, projects and related capabilities that will be undertaken in the People RDC.
There is initial funding of $15.8 million to establish the two pilot Thematic RDCs in the 2022-23 financial year. This is an enduring initiative with the digital research infrastructure capabilities in the People RDC being sustained long term.
Collaboration
The ARDC will develop and deliver digital research infrastructure in the People RDC through collaborative partnerships with Australian organisations, including the public and private sector, research institutions (such as universities, NCRIS facilities, publicly funded research agencies and medical research institutes), and other relevant stakeholders.
We will invite interested, eligible participants to register their interest. We will host a series of consultation sessions including roundtables, workshops and consultation meetings with registered stakeholders to develop the scope, scale and focus of the digital capabilities delivered through projects and enduring services.
Through these consultation sessions, we will interrogate and prioritise the various data challenges, technological barriers and opportunities that can be addressed by the People RDC for national impact.
Below is an indicative timeline for these activities:
- Register your interest in the form below
- Consultation feedback report, published August 2022
- Proposal development for pilot initiatives in June to October 2022.
People Research Data Commons Roundtable Discussion
Watch the recording of the 2 June 2022 roundtable discussion: People Research Data Commons for Health Research and Translation.
Please preview the following documents to assist you develop a better understanding of the video recording from the roundtable discussion on 2 June:
Target Outcomes
The People RDC will deliver national data assets and digital capabilities to support the health research and research translation pipeline. This will include:
- accessible existing national FAIR health data assets and new or improved data collections
- platforms and solutions that enable researchers to collect or generate data, analyse those data and produce FAIR data outputs
- enduring and underpinning infrastructure/services to support the research data lifecycle
- expertise in data, the research data lifecycle and digital research infrastructure
- legal, governance, policy, technology, collaboration and participation frameworks to enable success.
