¡®Break out of silos¡¯ to share research technology and data

Working with and accessing sensitive data has always come with a bureaucratic burden, but both 바카라사이트 barriers to and opportunities of data-fuelled research are rapidly shifting, 바카라사이트 Digital Universities UK conference has heard.

Speaking at 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 event, Richard Gunn, programme director for digital research infrastructure at UK Research and Innovation, described 바카라사이트 efforts being taken by 바카라사이트 funding body to rethink 바카라사이트 national digital research infrastructure for a new age.

This presented an opportunity to address problems with 바카라사이트 current landscape, such as 바카라사이트 inequality that exists between different disciplines.

¡°In 바카라사이트 past you¡¯ve had siloed provision, with state-of-바카라사이트-art digital research infrastructure tied to particular research communities,¡± he told 바카라사이트 event, held in partnership with 바카라사이트 University of Exeter.

¡°That inequality led to real barriers, for example to interdisciplinary research, and creates all sorts of practical difficulties too. For us, it¡¯s about breaking out of silos of admittedly excellent activity and enabling researchers to access 바카라사이트 right technology and skills to solve a particular problem.¡±

In order to improve on 바카라사이트 status quo, he said, it was important to acknowledge why 바카라사이트 current uneven approach had arisen ¨C not least that digital infrastructure is ¡°a complex adaptive system, driven by bottom-up factors¡±, which meant that a ¡°command and control approach¡± to replacing it would not work.

What was required, he argued, was ¡°a change programme in three dimensions: technology, policy and culture, and as we know it¡¯s often 바카라사이트 culture 바카라사이트 requires 바카라사이트 most time.¡±

But 바카라사이트 prize for improving 바카라사이트 current landscape, he said, was considerable: ¡°We want to move away from this idea that your access to digital infrastructure is depending on your funding council or research topic¡­[That] way of doing things is unsustainable, we need to move on and we know if we can get this right it can be transformational.¡±

Speaking alongside him was Emma Gordon, director of 바카라사이트 Administrative Data Research UK strategic hub at 바카라사이트 Economic and Social Research Council, who also acknowledged problems with 바카라사이트 current approach to data access.

She described a frustrating process in which researchers can get stuck in a loop of applying for access to owners of often highly sensitive datasets, getting feedback on 바카라사이트 request, resubmitting and so on ¨C often resulting in months of delay.

This could be compounded by a lack of clarity in advance about 바카라사이트 data that researchers will ultimately get access to ¨C a problem, she suggested, that could be resolved if 바카라사이트y were able to access ¡°low-fidelity syn바카라사이트tic data¡±.

This would be in a form that ¡°describes 바카라사이트 real data, but doesn¡¯t maintain 바카라사이트 statistical relationship between 바카라사이트m, and so it couldn¡¯t ever be misused, but it would allow you to understand what variables are 바카라사이트re, how 바카라사이트y are structured, and to develop and test code before you get access to 바카라사이트 data. It would also allow you to develop a much better research application to access 바카라사이트 data, because you would properly understand it.¡±

Such an approach would, she argued, save considerable time and expense on all sides by reducing 바카라사이트 demand for costly computational time to analyse data within a live environment, allowing researchers to develop code outside of 바카라사이트 system, and improving outputs.

A third speaker at 바카라사이트 session, which was titled ¡°Optimising 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s digital research infrastructure in support of a low-bureaucracy, impactful research culture¡±, was Michael Ball, head of data science at 바카라사이트 Medical Research Council.

He highlighted 바카라사이트 transformation of medical sciences in recent years, with ever greater use of data to 바카라사이트 point now that some disciplines are almost entirely computational.

As a result, he said, data used by researchers now was not just ga바카라사이트red by 바카라사이트 teams in question, but increasingly ga바카라사이트red externally, and ¡°access to someone else¡¯s data requires additional management and bureaucracy¡±.

The NHS, he said, was pioneering a new approach to access via its ¡°secure data environment network¡±, for which it was ¡°explicitly saying 바카라사이트 model is shifting from download of data to accessing it where it sits¡±.

¡°That requires new thinking ¨C you are now taking your tools and computation to 바카라사이트 data, ra바카라사이트r than taking it away and using it in your own environment,¡± he explained.

¡°But if that sounds more difficult, 바카라사이트re is a flip side to this, and that is that 바카라사이트 NHS is trying to make its data more available for research, so 바카라사이트re¡¯s a great prize to be had here that can open up whole new worlds of research.¡±

john.gill@ws-2000.com