Projects initiated under the Skilled Workforce Discovery Activities aim to understand the bigger picture around supply and demand of research support professionals, such as data stewards and research software engineers, with a focus on the benefits of improving career pathways.

The Skilled Workforce Program is part of the ARDC’s second strategic theme People and Policy: Transforming culture and community. Discovery projects conducted under the Skilled Workforce Program aim to answer the following questions:

  1. What is the current size of the research support professional workforce in Australia?
  2. What is the future demand for the research support professional workforce in Australia?
  3. Who is providing what and to whom in data and software skills in Australia?
  4. What do career paths look like for data stewards and software engineers in Australia?
  5. How could we make cloud infrastructure easier to use for researchers with limited IT expertise? (related to Storage and Compute Discovery projects)

The Discovery projects initiated in this theme are being conducted via targeted engagement. Outputs of the projects will be used to inform an eResearch Skilled Workforce Summit organised by the ARDC, CAUDIT and Universities Australia in Sydney, 29-30 July.

This Summit will focus on the development of the digitally skilled workforce essential for research in the 21st century. It will bring together stakeholders involved or interested in developing an Australian research workforce composed of both digitally skilled researchers, and research support professionals to maximise research impact.

An open invitation to the Summit will be provided soon. 

Start date 1 April 2019
Expected completion date 31 December 2019
Investment by ARDC $300,000
1 Projects conducted via targeted engagement
Discovery projects initiated in this theme, during the first two weeks of April, are being conducted via targeted engagement.
2 Completion of projects
Projects are due to be completed by 30 June 2019.
3 Skilled Workforce Summit
ARDC's Skilled Workforce Summit will be held in Sydney on July 29 and 30. The Summit will bring together stakeholders involved or interested in developing an Australian research workforce composed of both digitally skilled researchers, and research support professionals to maximise research impact.

Core features

Community support and involvement
Broad involvement of stakeholders to engage and build a collective vision of a data commons.
Deep dive into research support professionals
Gaining a deeper understanding of the supply and demand of research support professionals and benefits of improving career pathways.

Who is this project for?

  • Research ICT Infrastructure providers
  • Universities
  • Publicly Funded Research Agencies
  • NCRIS facilities
  • Research Institutes
  • Medical Research Institutes 
  • Infrastructure providers

What does this project enable?

Broad involvement from eResearch sector to help identify and solve the challenges required for Australia to excel in the new digital economy.  The projects themselves should provide meaningful outcomes for research communities and organisations as well as broader learnings for ARDC and the sector. Outputs from these activities will guide key discussions in the future capital and operational investment programs of the ARDC.

Handy resources