Data-intensive Research Policy In Ireland A brief overview By J.-C. Desplat

The Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) Set up in 2005 from a “green field” First ever National HPC Centre in RoI Mission includes: – National HPC Service – Cornerstone of Irish e-Infrastructure – Economic development through industry engagement Base Centre funding from SFI/HEA – Linked to six government depts 2

Data intensive research 3 Legislative Framework – Data Protection Commissioner Policies and guidelines – from funding agencies, e.g. Science Foundation Ireland, Higher Education Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Health Research Board, Irish Research Council – from advisory bodies, e.g. Health Information & Quality Authority International best practice – “Open Data” out of scope

Ecosystem & topical areas National Research Prioritisation Exercise 4 A – Future networks & comms B – Data analytics, mgt, security, … C – Digital platforms, contents & apps D – Connected health & indep. living E – Medical diagnostics F – Diagnostics G – Therapeutics H – Food for health I – Sustainable food production, … J – Marine renewable energy K – Smart grids & smart cities L – Manufacturing competitiveness M – Processing tech & novel materials N – Innovation in services, …

CS1 – Humanities Soc. Sciences Initiatives to develop national digital repository for the humanities and social sciences 5

CS1 – Humanities Soc. Sciences Initiatives to develop national digital repository for the humanities and social sciences Project-based funding – : Digital Humanities Observatory (DHO) – : Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) Sustainability vs. data curation & preservation? – Staff turn around (loss of expertise) – Running costs for service past end of grant? – Lack of strategy for sustainability past end of grant 6

CS1 – Humanities Soc. Sciences Constraints determine model – Institutions “hold on” source data – Metadata aggregation platform at national level though project funded initiatives – Persistent service available at European level Europeana and DARIAH (ESFRI) Interoperability (ESE/DRIM) Streamlining integration of Irish humanities data into a EU context Sustainable National e-Infrastructure and topical centres required 7

CS2: CMIP5 (Climate Sciences) Impact of national policies on participation in international initiatives CMIP5: Model Intercomparison Project 5 for the UN IPCC report ICHEC a partner in the EC-Earth climate model. Handles data mgt Each model uploads core experiment results to main centres Other model results kept “locally” –model centre (e.g. ICHEC) runs an “Earth System Grid” (ESG) data node –portals retrieve this data via ESG data node 8 ICHEC B. Lawrence, 2009

CS2: CMIP5 (Climate Sciences) Climate data mgt at Irish ESG node – Processed 1-10M files (>3PB) from 14 EU partners – Workflow for optimised publishing and analysis From guidelines and best practice – NetCDF/OpenDAP, CMOR, CF conventions for climate data, etc. – INSPIRE directive (2007/2/EC) Main challenge – Sustainability of underpinning e-Infrastructure Self-funded… no medium/long term commitment 9

CS3 – Clinical Research Irish Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ICRIN) – Founded by Molecular Medicine Ireland to engage with the constituent teaching hospitals to develop a national clinical research infrastructure, to harmonise clinical research processes, to connect with European networks, to develop education and training programmes and to support investigators in conducting multi-centre clinical studies. 10

CS3 – Clinical Research Leverages on investments by the HRB and the Wellcome Trust in clinical research facilities Promotes and facilitates engagement of the clinical research community in Ireland – to a common strategy, – adopting harmonised processes and practices, – and fostering education and training in all aspects of clinical research, particularly multi-centre studies. ICRIN, as the Irish member of the European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network. 11

Closing thoughts Personal views: 1.International framework (e.g., INSPIRE) preferable 2.Policies need to support sustainability of underpinning e-Infrastructure 3.Importance of Platform Science & Technology still not understood 4.Policies need to incentivise/require sharing of data 5.Changing “Business as usual” mentality 6.Urgent need to develop creation of a new breed of “Data Scientists” and include generic skills in STEM curriculum 12