
RLA Data Community of Practice Health and Wellbeing
Exploreabout RLA Data Community of Practice Health and Wellbeing
Collaboration among research, industry, business and government is critical for innovation in Australia. It drives productivity, economic growth, improves quality of living and planet health, and enables us to address some of the most pressing problems facing society, like healthcare and medicine, and food security.
An important step to enable this collaboration is connection. Better connection will help researchers and innovators find the collaborators and resources they need. This space is already evolving with:
The ARDC has a history of partnering with research organisations, building networks of data and people, providing national infrastructure and information services, with long-term interests in the ‘information ecosystem’ and promoting standards. To further boost the success of all services and activities that are linking universities and research organisations, businesses, industry and government, the ARDC has delivered the Research Link Australia (RLA) project with dedicated funding from the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
The project has developed a technical platform and a strategic framework that enables information sharing and improvement, connecting researchers and innovators. The platform leverages the ARDC’s existing national data catalogue Research Data Australia, information standards, services, technology capabilities and networks. For more information, see the RLA product page.
The ARDC adopted a consultative and co-design approach to working with government bodies, key data agencies, research-industry facilitators, businesses and research communities. This ensured project developments and priorities were based on stakeholder needs. RLA is continuing with this approach to ensure we iteratively improve the platform together.
RLA has an Advisory Committee with members from diverse backgrounds in research and industry collaborations. The Committee was formed in May 2023, and current members include:
Past members include:
RLA has worked with and will continue to work with stakeholders and community groups in focused activities to understand needs, identify data sources, and shape and test RLA’s design and capability:
This project has delivered:
Phase 1 was completed in December 2024. The ARDC has committed to a further 3 years of RLA operation, improvement and expansion beyond the dedicated NCRIS funding provided for Phase 1.
The RLA platform is now live, and your feedback will be most helpful. Use RLA today and talk to us using the in-site feedback form.
You are also invited to contribute data to RLA. To learn more, please contact [email protected].
We held a webinar introducing the project in May 2023. Watch the recording:
We also held 4 co-design workshops from May to August 2023. Access slides, notes and summaries for them in this Google Drive folder.