UTAS - NeCTAR

• The easy and natural deployment of simulation environments for scientific hypothesis
testing is a new area for tool development. For example, a low resolution climate
models like the CSIRO Mk3L, or the ecosystems models (reef scenarios) or
oceanographic models like ROMS.
RT3: Are you aware of any existing tools or services that would be ready, at an early stage,
to engage with NeCTAR as an ‘exemplar’ project and demonstrate value to the sector?
• There are many tools (eg data fabric delivered by ARCS, the computational grid
operated by ARCS and increasingly used by the wider community, the AAF is
particularly important and increasingly valuable as the number of services grow that
are of use by the research community. Of particular note are the digital repositories
operated by IMOS (or eMii) and TPAC which provide internationally utilised portals.
RT4: What computing platform and interoperation standards in your field need to be taken
into consideration in planning for this investment?
• A number of specific standards around sensor based systems, such as the general
SensorML and its associated specific instances are particularly relevant for
environmental monitoring systems.
RT5: What data security issues are there, specific to your field of research, that may
need to be considered in planning for this investment?
• Standards for security should be established by a national body and all projects
directed to conform to these requirements. This will ensure a standards based open
access policy is established, maintained, and developed separate from institutional
governance arrangements; and
• Certain communities value sharing and collaboration over explicit security
mechanisms. For example, in the field of climate and oceanographic research there
is a low level of data security identified by the user base.
RT6: What support do you see as necessary to promote the success of NeCTAR and the
provision of sustainable eResearch tool capabilities in your field of research?
• Marketing: there must be clear methods of communicating the activities and
informing the relevant groups about the activities in NeCTAR. It could be weekly
emails, e-Research conferences, road shows, and web sites, and general literature.\;
• Training is essential in getting the research community to adopt and use the tools
more widely, and with greater skill. The value of training cannot be under-estimated,
both of the developers, and also of the users. Many services are poorly utilised
because they are not understood by the research community, and thereby loosing
the opportunity to engage and transform.
• Good governance is also important to inform and communicate. Commitment of the
participants must be real, and the participants must have a history of tangible
involvement in the e-Research activities and use of tools and their development.
• The development of tools must be directed, in part, by the research users of the
tools. A strong relationship to researchers and their involvement in the tool
development increases the chances of successful implementations of enhanced tools
and their developments.