Research Data Management (RDM) Business Intelligence and Reporting

The Challenge

Work presented at the 2022 eResearch Australasia Conference suggests that over 300PB of digital research content is held by Australian institutions for future access. Institutions need to be able to make informed decisions about how to manage this digital research content, but they currently have difficulty assessing their holdings to make the necessary insights. Part of the challenge is getting a clear picture of what we need to know about these holdings, and part is extracting this information from university systems.

The Response

As part of the Institutional Underpinnings Research Data Management Network (IU RDM Network), this project has developed an agreed taxonomy for research data and a baseline reporting format that can be used within and across institutions. Using this taxonomy and reporting format will help institutions collect the information for more informed decisions about how they manage research data. This information can be collected across the sector to give a picture of national research data holdings (including trends over time) and identify sector-wide needs and challenges.

Who Will Benefit

Giving research institutions a better understanding of their research data holdings will improve data management strategies within universities, benefiting both the institutions and the researchers they support. The sector as a whole will benefit from an improved understanding of Australia’s research data and what is needed now and in future to support that data.

The Partners

• UNSW Sydney
• University of Sydney
• University of Technology Sydney

Further Resources

This project was one of the 4 projects of the IU RDM Network. Read about the other 3 projects:

• Retention and Disposal of Research Data – Confirming Obligations, Establishing Practice
• Principles Aligned Institutionally – Contextualised (PAI-C) RDM Training
• Building a Decoder Ring for Sensitive Data Management.

The IU RDM Network was an extension of the ARDC-led Institutional Underpinning program, which has developed the first RDM framework for Australian universities. Learn more about the program and access the:

• framework
• reusable materials created through projects to test the framework.