The Australian e-Research agenda
The Australian Government has signalled its interest in e-Research, and has mandated a committee to conduct a major consultation exercise. The inquiry will be assisted by a broad e-Research Reference Group drawn from stakeholders and industry.
It seems superfluous to list all of the potential benefits of e-Research for Australian industry and society. Suffice to say, this initiative is timely, and it's a shame the consultation period couldn't be extended past July 8.
Skating over some of the fluffier bits of the consultation document (e.g. ICT characterised as "[it] develops very quickly"-no, really?), we find its argument targets collaborative working and capacity building. In theory, the document places an equal emphasis on the trinity of infrastructure (starting with AARNET / AREN), coordination, and governance. But the main emphasis is on cultural change.
This may surprise some readers, particularly those in the UK, who have watched as newly-created organisations like NCeSS trumpet the benefits of the Grid and high performance computing. But there are important reasons why the focus is not on the technology.
To hint at why this is so, I will simply remind readers of the phrase "the tyranny of distance", coined by the Australian historian Geoffrey Blainey in the mid-1960s. Blainey's phrase describes the impact of geographical isolation on the modern Australian economy, society, and collective psyche. (Geoffrey Blainey, The Tyranny of Distance: How Distance Shaped Australia's History (Melbourne: Sun Books, 1966).
Thank goodness, things have improved since the heady days of the 19th century, and the beginnings of the national communications infrastructure. (For fascinating snippets of info, see this highly relevant article by Ann Caplan.)
But the fact of distance remains, and it affects every aspect of Australia's research capacity building, and by implication, the ability to build an Australian "knowledge society."
The tyranny of distance has real economic effects. Last month, the Australian Computing Society released its annual report on ICT import and export trends, showing that Australia's import deficit on ICT goods and services has reached a worrying AUD 19 billion (yes, billion).
But human capital is implicated, too. An issue not even mentioned in the consultation paper, and one close to my own heart, is e-Research's potential to bring expatriate Australians closer to home.
More than a million Australians currently live and work overseas - representing a considerable proportion of a nation with a population of 20 million. (Here's some up-to-date research on the distinctive profile of this group).
Australians leave the country of their birth for many reasons, but many of us (myself included) would favour the establishment of closer ties - economic, social, cultural - with the place we still call home. E-Research has the potential to help close the gap. Australian expats would welcome leadership from industry and government on this issue.
