About VeRSI
VeRSI is a five-year, $10M, State Government funded Program to provide a coordinated approach to accelerating the uptake of eResearch by Victorian researchers.
eResearch - research collaborations and shared resources enhanced by information and computing technology - is of increasing interest to the Australian research community.
A basic principle of eResearch is collaboration; and VeRSI itself is a collaboration - a tight and effective collaboration between the University of Melbourne, Monash University, La Trobe University and the Department of Primary Industries. Working together, these organisations will provide real examples of how eResearch can enhance research in all disciplines.
VeRSI's approach
The adoption of eResearch is a change management process; VeRSI recognizes that the key steps are to create awareness, demonstrate benefits by example and to reduce the impediments to change. VeRSI is addressing two of the major barriers to change: the establishment of trust necessary for the adoption of shared resources, and the provision of enabling infrastructure to defray the initial and short term costs of shared data storage infrastructure.
Examples illustrate benefits
VeRSI's approach is to develop a series of exemplars in area of life sciences, shared instrumentation, including the Australian Synchrotron, and ecoinformatics. The use-cases involve real challenges from the research community that illustrate the eResearch paradigm and demonstrate the advantages of collaboration; shared resources and ICT enabled research.
Each use-case provides the research group involved with a production quality solution to a problem in collaboration or research computing, and provides VeRSI with a tangible example of eResearch relevant to the Australian research community.
Enabling technology to make adoption easier
In the area of trust, VeRSI is adopting the Australian Access Federation's strategy for security and access.
Data and information are widely regarded as the mainstay of eResearch. The efficient storage of digital information in a way that enhances the useability and value of the data, provides secure access from any where at any time and which is based on sound data curation practices is the objective.
The VeRSI federated data storage system, based on Storage Resource Broker technology, will be a storage facility with nodes at the University of Melbourne, Monash University, La Trobe University and VPAC. This system will support the VeRSI use-cases; provide an example to other researchers of the benefits of shared resources, and serve as a model for institutions on the set up of distributed, federated storage systems.
The deliverables
The outcomes from the project groups will be knowledge and expertise, designs and technology solutions and advanced open source software. All of these will enhance the quality of research, bring timelier research outcomes, catalyse international collaborations, and provide opportunities to Victorian industry.
VeRSI will deliver research leadership by harnessing enabling technology in a way that delivers a productive, collaborative research environment and by developing key examples of how eResearch can enhance research outcomes. This approach will catalyse the widespread adoption and uptake of eResearch and deliver the promise of faster and more exhaustive research activities leading to improved commercialisation opportunities and an elevation in the status of the State's academic and research institutions. It will add value to the Australian Synchrotron, improve collaboration in the Life Sciences and reinforce Victoria's position as a knowledge-based economy.