Report on the visit to the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC).
Date: 2019-12-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Subjects: EU research policy, data transmission, digital technology, industrial research, on line data service

Report on the visit 
to the Australian 
Research Data 
Commons (ARDC) 

July-September 
2019

Sarah Jones, Independent 
Expert, European Open 
Science Cloud (EOSC) 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Report on the visit to the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), July-September 2019 
European Commission 
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 
Directorate G — Research & Innovation Outreach 
Unit G.4 — Open Science 
Contact   Corina Pascu 
Email  

corina.pascu@ec.europa.eu 
RTD-EOSC@ec.europa.eu 
RTD-PUBLICATIONS@ec.europa.eu   

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

Manuscript completed in December 2019 

The European Commission is not liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse of this publication. 

The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the 
European Commission. 

More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu). 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2019 

PDF  

ISBN 978-92-76-14234-8 

doi: 10.2777/41170 

KI-01-19-907-EN-N 

© European Union, 2019 
Reuse  is authorised under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution  License. The reuse policy  of European Commission 
documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). 

For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the copyright of the European Union, permission mus t 
be sought directly from the copyright holders. 

Cover  page  image:  ©  Lonely  #  46246900,  ag  visuell  #16440826,  Sean  Gladwell  #6018533,  LwRedStorm  #3348265,  2011; 
kras99 #43746830, 2012. Source: Fotolia.com  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Report on the visit to the 
Australian Research Data 
Commons (ARDC) 

July-September 2019 

Sarah Jones, Independent Expert, Executive Board of the European Open 
Science Cloud (EOSC) 

See also presentation given to the EOSC Executive Board at: 
https://www.slideshare.net/sjDCC/reflections-on-eosc-through-the-mirror-of-ardc 

2019 

Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Introducing the ARDC 

2.1 
2.2  ARDC activities 
2.3 

Table of Contents 
1  Introduction ............................................................................................................... 3 
2  What is ARDC? ........................................................................................................... 3 
3 
3 
4 
3  Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 6 
6 
6 
7 
4  List of meetings and presentations ................................................................................ 8 

3.1 
3.2  Balance stakeholder representation 
3.3  Ensure consultation and collaboration between EOSC governance and delivery 

The Australian Research Data Commons 

Focus on user needs 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
REPORT  ON  THE  VISIT  TO  THE  AUSTRALIAN  RESEARCH  DATA 
COMMONS (ARDC), JULY-SEPTEMBER 2019 

1 

Introduction 

The  Australian  Research  Data  Commons  (ARDC)  is  a  parallel  initiative  to  the  European 
Open Science Cloud (EOSC), supported by the Australian Government through the National 
Collaborative  Research  Infrastructure  Strategy  (NCRIS).  The  Australian  government  has 
invested heavily in national infrastructure and coordination over the past decade and is a 
strong collaborator for EOSC initiatives. 

In  order  to  inform  the  development  of  the  EOSC,  Sarah  Jones  conducted  a  2-month 
placement in Australia between July-September 2019.  Being co-located enabled a range 
of insights into how Australian activities align with and could inform EOSC. The placement 
involved visits to ARDC sites and other key stakeholders to raise awareness of EOSC and 
understand the creation and delivery of the Australian Research Data Commons. One key 
event was the ARDC Skilled Workforce Summit at which Sarah spoke on an international 
panel. She also furthered coordination activities by defining a new RDA Interest Group on 
the Global Open Research Commons with Andrew Treloar and others. This case statement 
was approved, and an initial Interest Group session was held at the 14th RDA Plenary in 
Helsinki in October 2019. 

2  What is ARDC? 

2.1 

Introducing the ARDC 

The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) is transformational initiative that enables 
the  Australian  research  community  and industry  to  access  nationally significant, leading 
edge data intensive eInfrastructure, platforms, skills and collections of high-quality data. 
The ARDC vision is similar to that of EOSC. It aims to become: 

“a coherent research environment to enable researchers to find, access, contribute 
to and effectively use services to maximise research quality and impact” 

The  term  ‘ARDC’  also  refers  to  the  name  of  an  organisation.  It  is  a  company  limited  by 
guarantee, that was formed on 30 May 2019. It brings together three legacy initiatives: 

  Australian National Data Service (ANDS) 

  National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (Nectar) 

  Research Data Services (RDS) 

Importantly, the ARDC as an organisation is not equivalent to the Australian Research Data 
Commons, just as any future EOSC legal entity is not the EOSC. Many more organisations 
are involved in implementing the vision of the Commons and delivering core data services. 

2.2  ARDC activities 

The Australian Research Data Commons as an organisation has several thematic activities, 
depicted in the diagram below. The Executive Team lead these activities, consulting with 
the community to set the direction of work and supporting co-creation activities. The Skilled 
Workforce Summit for example agreed future directions on training and capacity building, 
and the recent Platforms Programme call will support the development of tools and services 
in several areas. 

3 

 
 
 
Figure 1. The Australian Research Data Commons. © ARDC. 

Further information on the work of ARDC can be seen in the Strategic Plan for 2019-2023. 
This ARDC Strategic Plan applies to a total investment of $182 million, reflecting ARDC’s 
operational  allocation  from  NCRIS  for  2018-2023  of  $110m,  and  the  $72m  capital 
investment  included  in  Facilities  for  the  Future:  Underpinning  Australia’s  Research 
Innovation. 

2.3  The Australian Research Data Commons 

Many  stakeholders  are  involved  in  delivering  the  Australian  Research  Data  Commons, 
beyond the ARDC as an organisation. A core set of stakeholders was identified in the 2016 
National  Research  Infrastructure  Roadmap.  ARDC  has  a  remit  to  provide  national 
coherence  via  this  Digital  Data  and  eResearch  Platform  capability  (DDeRP).  The  DDeRP 
group encompasses the ARDC, Australia's Academic and Research Network (AARNet) and 
Australian Access Federation (AAF), the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) and 
Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. 

Beyond DDeRP, the NCRIS programme run by the Australian  government has supported 
the  development  of  many  disciplinary  data  services  and  platforms  such  as  the  Atlas  of 
Living  Australia,  Australian  Plant  Phenomics  Network,  and  Nuclear  Sciences  Facility.  
Research organisations, representative groups, commercial providers and others also play 
a key role in the Commons, whether offering or using services and data.  Parallel bodies 
and  sectors  such  as  the  Commonwealth  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research  Organisation 
(CSIRO) and Galleries Museums and Archives (GLAM) sector are also key. At attempt to 
map out the landscape and stakeholders is provided overleaf.

4 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 2. Mapping out the stakeholders and organisations involved in the Australian Research Data Commons

5 

 
 
 
 
3 

Recommendations 

While  observing  ARDC  activities  and  meeting  various  stakeholders  in  the  Australian 
landscape, several lessons emerged for EOSC. Many of these came from questions raised 
when I presented on EOSC, while others were a result of parallel issues and acknowledging 
similar challenges faced. 

3.1  Focus on user needs 

The  EOSC  currently  has  a  significant  amount  of  traction  and  interest  amongst  the 
stakeholders  and  infrastructures  involved  in  delivering  it.  This  may  be  giving  a  false 
impression  about  potential  uptake.  Questions  were  asked  about  why  people  would  be 
interested  in  using  EOSC  instead  of  what  they  do  already.  We  risk  taking  adoption  for 
granted and should consider the value proposition for each stakeholder to ensure the EOSC 
delivers  on  these  expectations.  The  activities  being  delivered  by  the  EOSCsecretariat 
project  in  this  area  should  be  done  in  consultation  with  the  EOSC  Executive  Board. 
Emphasis should also be placed on how EOSC adds value through federation and is not a 
new system or way of doing things which researchers need to learn. 

Researcher needs should be at the centre and ease of use is paramount. As the Solutions 
for a Sustainable EOSC strawman report mentions "Researchers are practically minded and 
will only adopt EOSC if it makes their research practices simpler by providing easy to use 
services that interoperate to support all phases of the research lifecycle." 

Recommendation 1: Don’t assume that EOSC has an automatic audience. Ensure research 
requirements are at the centre and that the services meet user needs. The Executive Board should 
review the value propositions being developed by the EOSCsecretariat project to engage each 
stakeholder group. 

3.2  Balance stakeholder representation 

A  wide  range  of  players  have  a  stake  in  EOSC,  including  research  communities, 
universities, funders, publishers and commercial providers. All of these groups need to be 
engaged and included in defining and implementing the vision. Balance is also needed in 
terms of country representation, disciplinary background, gender, career stage and other 
attributes. Ensuring diversity in the EOSC governance and stakeholder forum will help to 
address  the  manifold  use  cases  and  demonstrate  inclusivity.  Currently  researchers, 
institutions and international collaborators are under-represented in the EOSC governance 
and stakeholder forum. 

Recommendation 2: The EOSCsecretariat project should share concrete plans for stakeholder 
engagement and dissemination with the Executive Board so it can ensure balanced representation 
across EOSC communities and targeted events to address under-represented groups such as 
researchers and institutions. 

Recommendation 3: The activities within EOSCsecretariat WP3 (Stakeholder coordination) and 
WP7 (Stakeholder forum and events) should liaise with EOSC Working Groups to ensure a fruitful 
connection between the governance structure and all stakeholder communities. 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.3  Ensure consultation and collaboration between EOSC governance and delivery 

Just as the ARDC faces a challenge of holding the overall remit for bringing the Commons 
into  existence  but  doesn’t  have  an  official  mandate  to  coordinate  DDeRP,  so  too  is  the 
EOSC Executive Board acting in a purely advisory capacity. The Board does not approve 
H2020  project  remits,  nor  does  it  have  any  sway  over  how  these  initiatives  choose  to 
implement  their  work.  There  is  a  danger  that  conflicting  priorities  and  viewpoints  could 
undermine our collective ability to deliver EOSC. 

Currently the Executive Board is preparing a Partnerships Proposal for agreement by the 
Member  States  and  Associated  Countries.  If  this  is  agreed,  many  of  the  current  issues 
could be avoided as a small, lightweight legal entity would be responsible for drafting the 
Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for approval by the Board, and overseeing its 
implementation. Until this point, the Executive Board should discuss implementation plans 
with the major EOSC projects and negotiate to resolve any major differences in approach 
or  conflicting  timeframes.  Active  dialogue  and  consultation  with  all  stakeholders  is 
paramount is we are to ensure the community supports a single vision and is enabled to 
co-create a coherent EOSC. 

Recommendation 4: The Executive Board should consult with the major INFRAEOSC projects 
(EOSCsecretariat, FAIRsFAIR, EOSC-Enhance etc) to ensure commonality in vision, approach and 
timelines. A willingness to adjust plans and make compromises to reach community consensus is 
required from all parties. 

One potential risk to EOSC delivery is the loss of key providers. The ARDC has experienced 
this  with  Nectar  nodes  closing  or  pulling  out,  so  questions  were  asked  about  what 
contingency plans are in place if a key service provider or country withdraws? In the EOSC 
Strategic  Implementation  Plan  we  state  that  the  underlying  infrastructure  needs  to  be 
developed,  owned  and  operated  publicly.  This  is  intended  to  avoid  being  reliant  on 
externals or allowing one provider to have a monopoly.  

As the Nectar case shows, a strong shared vision and collective management is essential. 
In the case of Nectar, the people involved and organisational priorities changed leading to 
a  loss  of  nodes  and  shared  vision  over  time.  There  was  a  perception  that  the  host 
organisation owned the network as the original ANDS funding represented a small capital 
investment which had depreciated in the interim. The current ARDC investment in Nectar 
is  focused  on  buying  access  to  compute  and  storage,  rather  than  an  investment  in 
hardware as a consequence. 

Recommendation 5: Ensure Rules of Participation are sufficiently open so multiple options are 
available and one service provider doesn’t have monopoly. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4 

List of meetings and presentations 

  Presentation on RDM and FAIR initiatives and roundtable discussion at Griffith University 

on 25th July 2019 

  Meeting with the Librarian and University of Queensland RDM tool team, 26th July 2019 

  Thoughts on skills presented at the ARDC Skilled Workforce Summit on 29th-30th July 

2019 

  Discussion  at  the  Sydney  Research  Data  Alliance  Meet  &  Greet  meeting,  1st  August 

2019 

  Meeting with AARnet, 2nd August 2019 

  Meeting with CSIRO on RDPlanner tool and data science skills programme, 2nd August 

2019 

  Meeting with University of Technology Sydney on Redbox tool, 5th August 2019 

  Meeting with University of Sydney on XNAT project, 5th August 2019 

  Presentation  on  what  it  means  to  be  FAIR  and  roundtable  discussion  at  Macquarie 

University on 7th August 2019  

  Meeting with Monash eResearch team, 12th August 2019 

  Meetings with ARDC Skills team at Brisbane office, 15-16 August 2019 

  Meeting with Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation (QCIF), 16 August 2019 

  Data Management Planning: lessons from Europe, webinar for the ARDC DMP Interest 

Group, 21st August 2019 

  Meeting with CSIRO management team, 21st August 2019 

  Presentation on EOSC to ARDC brown bag seminar series, 22nd August 2019 

  Where  can  your  information  management  skills  take  you?  Careers  talk  given  to  LIS 

students at Charles Sturt University, 22 August 2019 

  RISE workshop and seminar for LIS team at Charles Sturt University, 26 August 2019 

  Meeting with Brendan Dalton, CIO of CSIRO, 27th August 2019 

  Meeting with Rosie Hicks, CEO of ARDC, 27th August 2019 

  Presentation on EOSC and the RDM landscape in Europe at Melbourne University, 28th 

August 2019 

  Presentation  on  RDM  and  FAIR  initiatives  at  the  Department  of  Defence  Science  and 

Technology, 29th August 2019 

  Meeting with Melbourne University data stewards and digital scholarship team to discuss 

the petascale campus initiative, 30th August 2019 

  RDM webinar for Diponegoro University, Indonesia, 3rd September 2019 

  Meeting with the AgreFed project, 4th September 2019 

8 

 
  DMP webinar for LIS students at Charles Sturt University, 4th September 2019 

  Presentation  on  the  DCC  and  FAIR  initiatives  at  the  Public  Record  Office  of  Victoria, 

followed by group meeting and discussion, 5th September 2019 

n.b.  some  presentations  such  as  the  DMP  webinar  were  given  multiple  times  or  reused 
content from earlier talks so not all slides have been published  

9 

 
 
Getting in touch with the EU 

IN PERSON 
All over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct Information centres.  
You can find the address of the centre nearest you at: https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en 

ON THE PHONE OR BY EMAIL 
Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union.  
You can contact this service  
– by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls),  
– at the following standard number: +32 22999696 or  
– by email via: https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en 

Finding information about the EU 

ONLINE 
Information about the European Union in all the official languages of the EU is available on the Europa website at:  
https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en 

EU PUBLICATIONS 
You can download or order free and priced EU publications at: 
https://publications.europa.eu/en/publications. Multiple copies of free publications may be obtained  
by contacting Europe Direct or your local information centre (see https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en) 

EU LAW AND RELATED DOCUMENTS 
For access to legal information from the EU, including all EU law since 1952 in all the official language versions,  
go to EUR-Lex at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu 

OPEN DATA FROM THE EU 
The EU Open Data Portal (http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en) provides access to datasets from the EU. Data can be  
downloaded and reused for free, for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  Australian  Research  Data  Commons  (ARDC)  is  a  parallel  initiative  to  the  European 
Open Science Cloud (EOSC), supported by the Australian Government through the National 
Collaborative  Research  Infrastructure  Strategy  (NCRIS).  The  Australian  government  has 
invested heavily in national infrastructure and coordination over the past decade and is a 
strong collaborator for EOSC initiatives. 

In  order  to  inform  the  development  of  the  EOSC,  Sarah  Jones  conducted  a  2-month 
placement in Australia between July-September 2019.  Being co-located enabled a range 
of insights into how Australian activities align with and could inform EOSC. The placement 
involved visits to ARDC sites and other key stakeholders to raise awareness of EOSC and 
understand the creation and delivery of the Australian Research Data Commons. One key 
event was the ARDC Skilled Workforce Summit at which Sarah spoke on an international 
panel. She also furthered coordination activities by defining a new RDA Interest Group on 
the Global Open Research Commons with Andrew Treloar and others. This case statement 
was approved, and an initial Interest Group session was held at the 14th RDA Plenary in 
Helsinki in October 2019. 

Research and Innovation policy