ARDC Skills Summit

The Challenge

Creating and developing communities around skills training is an important activity for the ARDC and the research sector. There are many opportunities for the cross-pollination of training ideas and sharing of best practices, but these are usually channelled through more discrete and smaller networking groups. 

Our commitment to investing in an annual ARDC Skills Summit recognises the need for the broader community to come together to share best practice and guide the development of a national data and digital research skills strategy. Our annual ARDC Skills Summit is a key activity in our Skills and Workforce Development Program. 

The Response

The Summit provides a vibrant forum for skills communities to network, exchange information, share new initiatives, celebrate success and work together on common challenges.

The Summit brings together stakeholders involved or interested in developing an Australian research workforce composed of both digitally skilled researchers and research support professionals.

Its annual program is designed in partnership with the trainer community and aims to engage our attendees and encourage the sharing of expertise and experiences. It focuses on:

• active participation in discussions
• tackling challenges
• formulating recommendations 
• making decisions on future directions for skills training and trainer communities.

Who Will Benefit

While the annual ARDC Skills Summit benefits trainer communities directly, there is a positive trickle-down effect for researchers. Highly skilled and engaged trainers catalyse higher quality training for researchers.

The Partners

Our partners vary from year to year. Several months before each Skills Summit, we call for Steering Committee members to:

• help with program design and development
• contribute ideas on session formats
• provide pointers to appropriate speakers 
• facilitate sessions during the Summit. 

These committee members come from a range of organisations, including national infrastructures, training service providers, institutions and other research performing organisations. 

Target Outcomes

The annual ARDC Skills Summit is consolidating community involvement and shared responsibility for the development of, and response to, a National DDR Skills agenda while providing:

• opportunities for dialogue and sharing on topics of importance to trainer communities and the wider sector
• an open space for issues and challenges to emerge, and potential pathways for addressing those challenges
• a forum for highlighting emerging technologies: platforms, tools, methods.