2008 Strategic Roadmap for Australian Research Infrastructure
The Strategic Roadmap for Australian Research Infrastructure was released by Senator the Hon. Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, on 4 September 2008. The Strategic Roadmap outlines where strategic infrastructure investments should be made over the next five to 10 years.
The Strategic Roadmap results from a review of the 2006 NCRIS Roadmap, which the NCRIS Committee undertook during the first half of 2008.
Queries on the Roadmap, including requests for hardcopies, can be made to the NCRIS Secretariat via email or to:
NCRIS Secretariat
Science and Infrastructure Division
Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
PO Box 9839
Canberra ACT 2601
The initial NCRIS Roadmap was developed in 2005-06 by the NCRIS Committee following extensive consultation with the research community.
In 2008, the NCRIS Committee undertook an update of the 2006 Roadmap to:
- Provide an assessment of Australia's infrastructure requirements, taking into consideration recent developments in research and changing priorities which have occurred since the Roadmap was first developed, and also the infrastructure investments that have been made in this period
- Provide an updated and revised Roadmap that can inform decisions about future investments in research infrastructure and, more broadly, be an integral component of Australia’s collaborative approach to building national research capability and supporting the Government’s objectives in this area. In particular, a revised Roadmap may flow into developments with the Education Investment Fund and the National Innovation System Review.
The review was intended to both review and refine the capabilities identified in the 2006 Roadmap and to identify key new capabilities.
To assist in reviewing the 2006 Roadmap, five expert working groups were established. Four of these groups were aligned with the National Research Priorities (Environmentally Sustainable Australia, Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, Frontier Technologies, Safeguarding Australia). A fifth group covered the Humanities, Arts and the Social Sciences. In addition to the five expert working groups, an ICT Strategy Group was established to identify and synthesise current and future ICT research infrastructure requirements.
The chairs of the Expert Working Groups were:
Environmentally Sustainable Australia: Dr Chris Pigram, Deputy CEO, Geoscience Australia
Promoting and Maintaining Good Health: Professor Caroline McMillen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, University of South Australia
Frontier Technologies: Professor Rod Hill, Pro Vice-Chancellor - Industry Engagement and Commercialisation, Monash University
Humanities, Arts and the Social Sciences: Professor Graeme Turner, Director, Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Queensland
Safeguarding Australia: Professor Helen Garnett, Vice-Chancellor, Charles Darwin University
ICT Strategy: Dr Rhys Francis, Executive Director, Australian e-Research Infrastructure Council
Discussion Paper
The Expert Working Groups and the ICT Strategy Group prepared input to a discussion paper for consultation that was released on 18 April 2008. The discussion paper is available here:
Exposure Draft
Following comment from stakeholders on the discussion paper, the Working Groups and NCRIS Secretariat prepared an Exposure Draft of the updated Roadmap for comment. The Exposure Draft, released on 4 July 2008, is available here:
Next Steps
The 2008 Roadmap formed the basis for the Super Science Initiative, announced in the May 2009 budget, which will contribute $901 million for research infrastructure that will make a lasting contribution to Australian science.
Links
Additional useful documentation can be found here: