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By Daniel Wells

‘Revolution' may well be one of the most overused words in the English language.

There have been cultural revolutions, technological revolutions, social revolutions… it would appear that almost everything is revolting—so to speak.

In amongst this exaggeration the real meaning of the word is lost. Its impact is diminished. So, when someone mentions an ‘e-research revolution', rolling the eyes would not be out of place. A sort of ‘here we go again' fatigue sets in—especially when it is prefaced by the ubiquitous letter ‘e'.

The difference here is that we are in the midst of an e-research revolution.

e-Research is the term used to describe a new breed of research projects—projects made possible for the first time through developments in computing and communications technology. These projects combine the potential of information and communications technology (ICT) systems with the collaboration of researchers representing many different disciplines across the world.

e-Research signifies a fundamental changing of the research environment in Australia.

Using distributed high-performance computing resources, data resources, grid networks, and communications technologies, virtual research environments are emerging that allow researchers to conduct their research independent of time and geographical location.

Researchers can now interact with colleagues, access remote instruments, and share research data and resources as well as use digital libraries.

e-Research as a structured concept is relatively new, but it is starting to underpin all scientific disciplines as well as the social sciences and humanities.

It is also emerging as a significant element in advancing the information economy more broadly.

The relationship between e-research, the development of new technologies and technology driven transformation in the wider economy is a major driver of the information economy.

For e-research to work it is essential that the necessary infrastructure is in place to support it. The Australian Government is providing around $60 million over seven years to support the development, trialling and demonstrating advanced networks, experimental networks and test-beds under the Advanced Networks Program (ANP).

The ANP funds three projects: CeNTIE, GrangeNet and m.Net.

CeNTIE and GrangeNet provide very high capacity optic fibre networks linking research institutions in Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane. m.Net provides an advanced (3G) wireless network based in Adelaide, for research into broadband wireless network technologies and applications.

In June 2003, CeNTIE and GrangeNet merged to provide institutions with gigabit capacity between Perth and Brisbane. Both networks also interconnect to the Australian Research and Education Network, which will link Australian tertiary institutions. The CeNTIE/GrangeNet backbone is linked to overseas networks, opening opportunities for Australian researchers to participate in

significant international projects.

The CeNTIE/GrangeNet 10 gbps backbone is world-class in terms of bandwidth and reliability. GrangeNet operates to the same standards as research and education networks around the world. CeNTIE is recognised internationally as a major testbed for network research.

The three ANP projects have led to a significant amount of new research activity.

A number of complex issues have been investigated by CeNTIEs focus groups. For example, the Telehealth Focus Group has been developing three new systems—surgical training using haptic technologies, paediatric echocardiography and the Virtual Intensive Critical Care Unit (ViCCU).

A virtual classroom initiative has been jointly developed by the University of NSW, the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia.

Collaboration with Nortel Networks and the film post-production industry has led to the Extranet on Demand product which allows post-production companies to collaborate using secure, high-capacity common network facilities created for the duration of the project.

GrangeNet supports a number of Australia's research communities that depend on a high bandwidth and low latency network. Through GrangeNet, Australian researchers and scientists can now remotely access resources such as supercomputers, distributed data sets and nationally significant scientific instruments and infrastructure.

m.Net has linkages with university research and with the research arms of major corporations. It conducts activities such as behaviour research, the development of mobile applications by university students, mobile Internet application development, Telstra's funding of the HealthSpring e-health application development, and m.Net's collaborative agreements with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The Australian Government has successfully provided the infrastructure base upon which to establish a world-class e-research structure, and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) in conjunction with the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) is spearheading the Government's e-research agenda.

An e-research Coordinating Committee is being established and initial consultation with research institutions, research network providers, funding agencies and other key stakeholders is underway.

The Coordinating Committee will be chaired by Dr Mike Sargent and will provide policy direction to research agencies and consider issues relevant to the more rapid and widespread takeup of e-research across Australia.

In particular, the work of the coordinating committee will help to inform funding decisions for system-wide research infrastructure under a range of Government programs, including the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

NCRIS, announced as part of the Government's innovation statement, Backing Australia's Ability—Building Our Future through Science and Innovation, was allocated $542 million in funding over 2004–05 to 2010–11 for infrastructure to support world-class research. Further announcements regarding the e-research Coordinating Committee will be announced shortly.

As all these and more e-research projects get underway we can see that the revolution in Australian research has already begun.

Further information on e-research can be found at www.dcita.gov.au

• Document ID: 31093 |
• Last modified: 6 February 2008, 11:53am