Research Data Storage Infrastructure Education Investment Fund Annual Business Plan 2014-2015

Research Data Storage Infrastructure Education Investment Fund Annual Business Plan 2014-2015 5 May 2014

Research Data Storage Infrastructure Education Investment Fund (EIF) Annual Business Plan 2014-2015 Executive Summary... 4 1.1 Objectives... 6 1.2 Summary of Progress... 6 1.2.1 Programmes... 8 1.2.2 Risk Factors... 12 2. Background Information... 13 2.1 Objectives of the Project... 14 2.2 Outcomes of the Project... 14 2.3 Implementation Principles... 15 2.4 Context and Scope of the Project... 16 2.4.1 Context... 16 2.4.2 Scope... 17 2.5 Participating Organisations... 18 2.6 Management and implementation arrangements... 19 2.7 Relationship to other eresearch investments... 19 2.8 Funding arrangements... 20 3 Project Implementation... 21 3.1 Node Development (NoDe) Programme... 21 3.2 ReDS Programme... 22 3.2.1 Initial Research Data Storage... 23 3.2.2 Interim Research Data Storage... 23 3.2.3 Ongoing Research Data Storage (Top-up Funding)... 24 3.2.4 RDSI Board Allocation Process... 33 3.3 DaSh Programme... 36 3.3.1 Outline of DaSh Themes... 36 3.4 VePa programme... 41 3.5 Project Conclusion... 42 4 Management and Implementation... 43 4.1 Governance and Management Framework... 43 RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 2 of 67

4.1.1 Roles... 43 5 Milestones... 47 5.1 Milestones for 2014-2015... 47 6 Project Resources... 49 6.2 RDSI Income and Co-investment... 49 6.3 RDSI Expenditure... 49 6.4 Total Investment Summary... 50 7 Performance Indicators... 51 APPENDIX A RDSI Risk Register... 53 APPENDIX B Terms of Reference and Operations... 65 B.1. Membership... 65 B.2. Meetings... 66 B.3 Expenses... 66 APPENDIX C Allocation Proposal Form... 67 Part A... 67 Part B... 67 RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 3 of 67

Executive Summary This document is the fourth Annual Business Plan (ABP) for the Research Data Storage Infrastructure (RDSI) Project funded from the Education Investment Fund (EIF) under the Super Science Initiative covering the financial year July 2014 to December 2014 when the project operationally concludes. A reduced Project Office, consisting of the Project Director, Project Manager and Office Administrator will continue to manage the project until June 2015 to fulfil The University of Queensland s contractual obligations as Lead Agent.. This will include writing and submitting the final report. A funding agreement between the Commonwealth represented by the then Department of Industry, Innovation, Science and, Research (superseded by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIICCSRTE) and now the Department of Education), henceforth referred to as the Department, and the University of Queensland (UQ) was executed on 23 rd December 2010, with the Project Office established on 27 th January 2011. A Deed of Variation was subsequently executed on 6 th May 2013 extending the RDSI Project operational conclusion to 31 st December 2014 and the contractual conclusion to 30 th June 2015, with a requirement to submit the final report by 31 st March 2015. The project was extended to strengthen the technical development of the data stores (aka Nodes) in a national network through the funding of specialised staff at each Node to support the effective ingest of data into those stores and to provide access to collections to researchers. A total 53 participating organisations are involved in the operation and use of this national distributed set of facilities. The aim of the RDSI Project is that researchers will be able to use and manipulate significant collections of data that were previously either unavailable or difficult to access and that there will be a consistent means of accessing this data. This has been successfully achieved through the development of a national network data stores, or Nodes, where the content held in those stores is allocated capacity through a priority and merit process and where that content can be readily accessed, analysed and reused in a coherently governed environment. The project extension has demonstrated that it is effectively accelerating the development of this national network of Nodes by funding staff at the Nodes to support and expedite deployment of their infrastructure and Merit allocation process and ingesting data. Currently over 33 PB of collections have been approved by the Nodes Merit allocation committees with over 9 PB of data available to researchers and this number is growing on a daily basis. As part of RDSI s outreach activities the project has consulted with a number of researchers in collaboration with Nodes and has developed a significant number of use cases describing how the availability of data in RDSI funded storage at Nodes is benefiting their research. These use cases, described as RDSI stories are available at RDSI s web site (https://www.rdsi.edu.au/use-cases). The RDSI project is assisting with Node sustainability beyond the project duration by: creating a robust network of data stores increasing the amount of time Nodes have to ingest data increasing the exposure of collections that were before unavailable to researchers creating a set of robust collaboration arrangements, and increasing the collective technical knowledge required to support the national storage infrastructure created by the RDSI project RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 4 of 67

In October 2013, The Lead Agent, after advice from the RDSI Board recommended that the Department agree to an extension of the operational end date of the project until June 2015 with a revised date of 30 th September 2015 for submission of the final report and 31 st December 2015 for contractual completion of the project. This would align the dates of both the RDSI project and the RDSI NCRIS 2013 project. The proposal included recommendations to extend funding of the RDSI funded staff at Nodes until the operational completion on 30 th June 2015 and would require extension of the skeleton project office described earlier until 31 st December 2015 This recommendation has not, to date, been approved but if approval is provided, a review of the funding of RDSI funded staff at Nodes may be appropriate as this activity could be superseded by NCRIS 2013 funding. In any event, if the recommendation is approved, this ABP will need to be updated. The RDSI project is currently undergoing a project review. The review is being led by Professor Tom Cochrane and is expected to conclude in May 2014. The outcomes of the review will be considered by the RDSI Board, the Lead Agent and the Department and this ABP may need to be updated to accommodate approved recommendations from the review. The project, in consultation with Nodes and other eresearch projects, identified the need for funding the storage of large collections of research data, which would fall outside the scope of existing storage funding mechanisms within the project. The RDSI board and the Lead Agent have identified and approved a process The Board Allocation Process which would address this requirement. It has been supported by all Nodes after extensive consultation, which included a workshop in which all stakeholders participated. This process is described in the RDSI website https://www.rdsi.edu.au/reds and it is proposed that it should be adopted immediately. By the end of April 2014, estimated requests for funding research data storage at Nodes exceeds the capacity to fund such requests by a factor of 1.7. The RDSI Board will provide the Lead Agent with advice on the appropriate requests to fund based on approved principles and objectives defined by the project plan and approved business plans. Reports from Nodes indicate that, at the end of April 2014, a total of 33.718 Petabytes of Research Data has been approved by Merit Allocation Committees for storage and that 9.252 Petabytes of this has been ingested into Nodes Stores and is available for research use. It is anticipated that the project will meet its objectives within the timeframe and budget defined by both this ABP and the current ABP 2013/2014. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 5 of 67

1.1 Objectives The objectives of the RDSI Project are: Develop a national network of a limited number of data stores, or Nodes, where the content held in those stores is allocated capacity through a priority and merit process and where the content can be readily accessed, analysed and re-used in a coherently governed environment. There will be Primary and Additional Nodes. Create and develop a data storage infrastructure accessed through a common infrastructure layer provided by agencies within the sector, or commercial providers, or both. Connect the data storage infrastructure created by the RDSI Project to the Australian Research and Education Network (AREN) by a high bandwidth connection, funded and constructed under the Super Science National Research Networks (NRN) Project. This will include dedicated high speed connections between major Nodes. Support meritorious data collections through the Research Data Service Programme (ReDS). Encourage economies of scale through the Vendor Panel Programme (VePa). The intended outcomes of the project include: Providing significantly increased capacity for research data holdings. Developing and improving associated access and data sharing capabilities. Enhancing the capability and capacity to provide research data services to the sector. The result is intended to be a data storage framework that will assist institutions and researchers to more effectively use, manage, share and preserve much larger holdings of research data. 1.2 Summary of Progress The 2013-2014 business plan principles and objectives remain substantially unchanged for 2014-2015 with the project wrapping up its programmes and transferring services to the sector by December 2014. It is planned that the ReX system will be transferred to the Australian Access Federation (AAF) to maintain and continue to develop the system as new researcher identity and access management requirements emerge. The Vendor Panel developed in conjunction with CAUDIT will be transferred and maintained by CAUDIT. The DaShNet will continue to be maintained by AARNet. The LiveArc and ARMS will be maintained by Nodes along with the monitoring system and Nodes Security policies. The RDSI funded staff at Nodes used to accelerate and support the data ingestion and collections merit allocation will conclude in December 2014. Nodes intend to continue to support their infrastructure and make the collections available to the sector in line with the RDSI project objectives until June 2015. The RDSI Board has recommended to the Department to extend the project until June 2015 and continue to fund the RDSI funded staff at Nodes. The RDSI project Office would continue to work until 31 December 2015 to close down the project and provide the required reports to the Department. If this recommendation is accepted this ABP will need to be updated. In addition if approved by the Department the NCRIS 2013 funding will therefore transition the investments made through the RDSI (EIF) Project into a (long-term) sustainable data service through RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 6 of 67

the single overarching goal of making operational Data as a Service for the Australian research community. These broad objectives build on the intent and achievements of the RDSI project by elevating the operational capability and support, in alignment with both the growth of collections, made available through the project, and the growth in expectations of research organisations and communities for higher levels of service (over and above the foundation access that is now in place) that are required to accelerate and improve the attainment of research outcomes. There has been significant progress against all milestones during the 2013 2014 period. There are 50 milestones from the 2013-2014 ABP, 84% are either completed, on track or an on-going activity and 16% are in progress. These are detailed at https://www.rdsi.edu.au/milestones. The adjustment of some project milestones in the 2013-2014 period owe to anticipated early delivery of some activities and justified delays in others due to Node s intention to ensure RDSI infrastructure is co-located with other data infrastructure to ensure researchers have the best possible environment to work with. The project risks and mitigation strategies identified in the previous Project Plan are broadly unchanged and are revised periodically to analyse various project risk aspects. These are detailed at Appendix A. As a broad overview during the year 2013-2014, the project achieved the following outcomes: Oversaw the implementation of the ReDS acceleration activities with Nodes. Continued to manage Node contracts for distribution of data storage via the ReDS programme. Continued to support Nodes to purchase from the Vendor Panel. Continued to support the Vendor Panel RFP Vendor Evaluation Committee (VEC). Launched the ongoing VePa RFP. (Vendors are able to submit their applications at any time and the evaluation committee assesses on a need basis. This facilitates the entrance to the Vendor Panel.) At the time of writing this plan there were 18 vendors on the panel. ReDS programme continued to release funds to Nodes to enable storage infrastructure to be provisioned in advance of storage being allocated to data. ReDS programme continued to monitor data allocation and use. Continued engagement with stakeholders. Launched the Test Platform theme to foster Nodes implementation and future sustainability, this has been used to test components of the RDSI technical architecture. Refined the DaSh programme requirements and proposed new approaches to further support the Nodes technical architecture implementation. As a result Nodes volunteered to develop a programmatic data services interface, the LiveArc and Aspera integration, a dropbox style solution to be evaluated, and negotiated with the vendor an extension to the LiveArc license and maintenance for additional 12 months. Developed security policy guidelines for Nodes and Institutions. Developed Security Policy Model for Nodes. Developed Security Policy Model for Institutions. Continues to identify security related matters and provide input to Nodes. Implemented the DaShNet via AARNet. Continue to implement the RDSI Communications plan activities with Nodes and stakeholders. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 7 of 67

Maintain the RDSI website up to date with the latest information about the project, its programmes, subprojects and milestones progress, as well as publishing use case stories, newsletters, a security feed, a general tweeter feed, mailing lists and other social media tools to support the dissemination of project information to Nodes and stakeholders. RDSI Project Office participated in a number of Node meetings to discuss their architecture, implementation and timelines. RDSI Project Office continued to meet regularly with Node Steering Committee (Node SC) and Node Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). RDSI team continued to engage with stakeholders and had a strong presence at the eresearch Australasia Conference 2013, promoted awareness of the RDSI project to Nodes and researchers. Continues to monitor the Nodes implementation and publish Node performance information at the RDSI website. Additional activities carried out during 2013-2014 ABP as per Department and/or Board request: Project Office assisted with requirements of the RDSI project review requested by the Department. Provided feedback to the Department on Terms of Reference and communications guidelines as requested. Provided feedback on reviewers and reference group. Supported and provided information to the reviewer as requested. Identified the need to fund large storage collections, developed guidelines for Nodes to participate. As a result received large storage collection proposals which are under review by the RAP at the time of writing this ABP. Assisted the RAP with logistics for evaluation and recommendation of proposals to the Board. A comprehensive description of the proposed Project Implementation during 2014-2015 period is provided in section 3 with milestones outlined in section 5. 1.2.1 Programmes The Project has been undertaking activities across four key programme areas as follows: Node Development (NoDe): A programme to identify, strengthen and develop research data centres able to hold and process high data volumes. o Research data centres are supported either as a Primary Node or an Additional Node. o NoDe has funded the 6 Primary Nodes and 2 Additional Nodes. o Nodes are operational and provisioning data storage for researchers. Research Data Services (ReDS): A programme to identify research data holdings of lasting value and importance and to contribute funding to their development at the most appropriate Node. o Nodes are using the Merit Allocation process to identify collections of significant use for the sector and making these available. o ReDS programme has provided funds to support the storage of such collections. o ReDS programme monitors Node ingestion and storage use progress regularly. Data Sharing (DaSh): A programme to provide the widest possible range of general data sharing and movement infrastructure suitable for data intensive research activities. This programme comprised of two major components, a high performance network (DaShNet) and a DaSh Technical Architecture. DaSh extended the reach of the RDSI project by providing the RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 8 of 67

DaShNet data transfer mechanisms to share data and by developing access to public storage services. DaSh funded, managed and in cooperation with Nodes deployed or is deploying a number of sub-projects listed herein further progress details are available on the RDSI website (https://www.rdsi.edu.au/milestones): o ReX Identity management system for researcher identity and access to storage being developed by the AAF and Intersect. o LiveArc collection management system being delivered to Nodes and implemented as per their requirements. o Allocation Request Management System (ARMS) is an online application form for ReDS merit-allocated storage and supports assessment and allocation workflow. It is deployed at Nodes and being developed by QCIF. o Monitoring/Reporting system being deployed by Nodes to facilitate their information gathering and reporting on RDSI funded storage to the RDSI project Office. o Security policies and guidelines developed and available for Nodes to use as needed. o DaShNet project funded by NRN providing reliable high speed broadband connections to RDSI Nodes to enable researchers across Australia to access and use the data held at RDSI Nodes. Provide access to a public cloud infrastructure provider to support collaboration around research data. This activity has been contracted to AARNet. o Test platform run by Nodes to provide a test environment for the DaSh technical architecture and its sub-projects. o Created support materials - Nodes to create the resources needed to allow the effective future support of RDSI Node services. This activity has been funded by RDSI and achieved through the AeRO support project and the outcome is available at http://usersupport.aero.edu.au/good-practices/ o o RDSI has provided a report on CKAN evaluation to Nodes and implementation is a matter for individual Nodes to decide. In consultation with Nodes identified additional activities required to support data access. The RDSI board approved the following activities to be carried out across ABPs periods: Programmatic Data Access Service: Tool to enable remote users to discover and access data collections via network-based data services. This activity will be allocated $399,164 and shall be managed by NCI with appropriate reporting to the RDSI project Office. Researcher file syncing and sharing system: Software to allow researchers using RDSI storage to sync and share files in a similar fashion to Dropbox. This activity will be allocated $25,000 for the development of a funding proposal. QCIF will manage the project with appropriate reporting to the RDSI project Office. A further $350,000 is reserved for this activity, however the board will decide on the amount released. LiveARC meets Aspera: Integrate Aspera with LiveARC to seamlessly exploit the benefits of both tools. The proposal will be allocated $54,625 and will be delivered by Architecta/SGI with support from Nodes. LiveARC extended licence: LiveARC is a single platform that enables researchers to manage supported data. LiveARC is a key component of the DaSh Technical Architecture and will be allocated $170,436. These funds will RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 9 of 67

be used to grant Nodes with an extended LiveARC licence which incorporates an additional year of maintenance. Vendor Panel (VePa): A programme to establish a vendor panel for use by RDSI and the sector. The Vendor Panel was developed in conjunction with CAUDIT and will continue to be maintained by CAUDIT after the RDSI project concludes. 1.2.1.1 NoDe Programme The NoDe programme has identified, strengthened and developed research data centres able to hold and process high data volumes. A total of six primary Nodes were approved in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and two additional Nodes were approved in Townsville and Hobart. All eight Nodes have executed contracts with UQ. All Nodes are operational and approving collections for storage allocation, ingesting data and providing data to researchers. The status of Nodes is constantly updated and further details of each operator can be viewed on the Node Statuses page at the RDSI web site (https://www.rdsi.edu.au/node-statuses). While there were delays on Nodes capability development these were due to actions by Nodes intended to ensure RDSI infrastructure is co-located with other data infrastructure to ensure researchers have the best possible environment to work with. Currently over 33 PB of collections have been approved by the Nodes Merit allocation committees with over 9 PB of data available to researchers and this number is growing on a daily basis. In addition if the large storage collections are approved this amount of storage will increase significantly. There is a chance that the demand for storage may exceed the RDSI funds envelope. It is anticipated that all Nodes will be reporting on their Node Asset Registry by August 2014. The NoDe programme has achieved its objectives in 2013-2014 with all milestones completed and continues to carry out the on-going activities. For details refer to https://www.rdsi.edu.au/milestones#nd. NoDe programme activities proposed for 2014-2015 are available at section 3.1. 1.2.1.2 ReDS Programme The ReDS Programme through Nodes has identified research data holdings of lasting value and importance and contributed funding to their development at the most appropriate Node. Under the ReDS I Initial funding variation to the sub-contract with each Node, the RDSI ReDS programme has invested $1m for required storage for a collection Merit Allocated Storage (MAS) and $200K for collection development storage (CD) at each Primary Node. The programme has also invested $300K for required storage for a collection Merit Allocated Storage and $60K for collection development storage at each Additional Node. ReDS I approach was successful and the Department has approved that a similar Interim funding approach be used again. As this approach will be carried out across ABPs periods its details along with the RDSI Allocation process for large collections and the ongoing ReDS top-ups are described at section 3.2. It is anticipated that it will be appropriate and necessary to consult the Department on further activities conducted under the ReDS Programme which are not explicitly addressed in the Annual Business Plan. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 10 of 67

The ReDS programme has achieved its objectives in 2013-2014 with all milestones complete or on target. For details refer to https://www.rdsi.edu.au/milestones#rd. 1.2.1.3 DaSh Programme The DaSh programme was designed to develop the DaShNet Network Architecture and the DaSh Technical Framework in consultation with stakeholders and propose an approach for RDSI-funded Nodes to use as basis to develop their infrastructure. Together, DaShNet and the Technical Framework were integrated to become the DaSh Technical Architecture which describes the network, data mover, security and identity, data access, cloud gateway, test platform and workflow automation capabilities for the RDSI-funded Nodes. Creating support materials for identified services was also considered a priority and the RDSI project identified the ability to address this through contribution from the AeRO Support Project. The majority of the DaSh activities listed in the milestones (https://www.rdsi.edu.au/milestones#ds) were either completed or are in progress. Seven activities missed the deadline and are in progress. The data mover activity has been incorporated into the DaShNet project and is progressing through AARNet. The identity system prototype was completed in December 2013 with the interim production deployment expected to be available in May 2014. The initial phase of ReX development is expected to be completed by July 2014. Additional features may be identified by the Nodes which will be considered. The identification of which cloud middleware options will be implemented by Nodes may be delayed. The implementation of a collections registry accessible by Nodes and RDSI Project called Allocation Request Management System (ARMS) has been developed and phase 1 is available to Nodes at https://www.rdsi.edu.au/arms. Further development is expected to be completed in Q2/2014. The support of the implementation of widely discoverable data collections prototype is expected to be complete by Q2/2014. Additional activities to support the DaSh programme have been identified by Nodes and are detailed at section 3.3 to be carried out in 2014-2015. 1.2.1.4 Vendor Panel The Vendor Panel (VePa) programme was designed to provide options for potential RDSI Nodes and members of the Council of Australian University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT) to procure storage related infrastructure, software and services. The purposes for the programme were twofold. Firstly to allow Nodes, universities and other authorised users to avoid lengthy tendering processes by using an appropriately constructed panel and secondly to support volume pricing across Nodes and the wider Higher Education and Research Sector. A wide range of infrastructure and services are included on the panel and each Vendor has agreed to a Commonwealth Government Information Technology and Communications (GITC) compliant model contract (or its equivalent) which will significantly streamline the use of the panel across the university and research sector. The ongoing VePa RFP has been launched, vendors are able to submit their applications at any time, and the evaluation committee assesses on a need basis. This facilitates the entrance to the Vendor Panel.) Currently there are 18 vendors on the panel. The VePa programme has achieved all its objectives in 2013-2014 with all milestones either completed or on-going. For details refer to https://www.rdsi.edu.au/milestones#vp. VePa Programme activities for 2014-2015 are available at section 3.4. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 11 of 67

1.2.2 Risk Factors Assessment and Mitigation The project risks and mitigation strategies identified in the Project Plan are broadly unchanged. RDSI carries out regular reviews of project risks with the RDSI Board and no risks were identified that weren t mitigated. The project in consultation with the Nodes identified the need for funding large storage allocation. The RDSI Research Allocation Panel (RAP) will provide their recommendation to the board for consideration and it is likely that the demand for storage will be larger than the RDSI ReDS funds envelope. It is likely that the ReDS programme funds will not be sufficient to meet the demands indicated by Nodes. Estimated requests for funding research data storage at Nodes exceeds the capacity to fund such requests by a factor of 1.7. The RDSI Board will provide the Lead Agent with advice on the appropriate requests to fund based on approved principles and objectives defined by the project plan and approved business plans. Reports from Nodes indicate that, at the end of April 2014, a total of 33.718 Petabytes of Research Data has been approved by Merit Allocation Committees for storage and that approximate 9.252 Petabytes of this has been ingested into Nodes Stores and is available for research use. RDSI funds the storage of two copies of collection at Nodes. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 12 of 67

2. Background Information The Super Science Initiative announced in the 2009 Budget included $50 million for Research Data Storage Infrastructure (RDSI) to enhance distributed data centre development to support nationally significant data assets. The Funding Agreement for the RDSI Project was signed with The University of Queensland (UQ) on 23 December 2010. A deed of variation was signed in April 2013. The RDSI project is building a national network of distributed data stores, or Nodes to enable research data to be readily accessed, analysed and re-used. The project will allow researchers and institutions to more effectively use, manage, share and preserve much larger amounts of research data and will support a national data environment at a scale that will enable new questions to be asked on topics and at scales not previously possible. This document is the fourth Annual Business Plan for the RDSI project covering the financial year July 2014 to June 2015. The benefits from better-managed and more accessible research data are being sought everywhere across the research sector. At the same time, the acceleration in the generation of data is outstripping growth in data storage capacities. The RDSI Project therefore represents a timely investment that is aimed at strengthening Australia s capabilities in data intensive research and data intensive research collaboration. In practical terms, this will be by providing significantly increased capacity for research data holdings; developing and improving associated access and data sharing capabilities; and enhancing the capability and capacity to provide research data services to the sector. The result is intended to be a data storage framework that will assist institutions and researchers to more effectively use, manage, share and preserve much larger holdings of research data. The expected benefits are to: improve the availability of quality research data for sharing and re-use and, as a result, expand the scale and scope of problems that Australian researchers may seek to address; improve research efficiency; and reduce institutional data storage costs and enable more extensive collaboration. The infrastructure may also assist institutions to: sustain a quality of research in the digital age that includes the reproducibility of results; meet the storage requirements of key research activities undertaken at that institution; and comply with the research data provisions of Universities Australia s Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. Other related projects funded as part of the Super Science Initiative include investments in the improved management of data; a significant increase in the supply of high performance computing; enhancements to research tools and improved support for research applications; improved connectivity to the Australian Research and Education Network (AREN); and a range of developments specific to discipline or capability requirements. The intended role of the RDSI Project within this broader set of investments is to increase holdings of research data valued by the research community. Key components of this role will be to support governance arrangements that underpin ingest regimes, data quality and access policies and support access services required by those data collections. The implementation of the RDSI Project will also RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 13 of 67

enable the provision of such broader data sharing, movement and access services as are required at a national level to support data intensive research and research collaboration that are not otherwise available. Simultaneously, public infrastructure service providers are developing new approaches to data infrastructure. The outcomes of the RDSI Project would be positioned to assist the research sector pursue the economies of scale available from these new approaches. 2.1 Objectives of the Project The aim of the RDSI Project is that researchers will be able to use and manipulate significant collections of data that were previously either unavailable or difficult to access and that there will be a consistent means of accessing this data. This will be achieved through the development of a national network of a limited number of data stores, or Nodes, where the content held in those stores is allocated capacity through a priority and merit process and where that content can be readily accessed, analysed and reused in a coherently governed environment. There may be more than one category of Node. The Project will be realised through the creation and development of data storage infrastructure accessed through a common infrastructure layer and provided by agencies within the sector, or commercial providers, or both. Specifically, the intention is to increase the sharing and re-use of research related data, which might be sourced from any sector, and the collaborative activity based on the sharing of data, and not merely to achieve improved data retention. A national data environment of the scale planned will also enable new questions to be asked on topics and at scales not previously possible. The data storage infrastructure created by the RDSI Project will be connected to the AREN by a high bandwidth connection, funded and constructed under the Super Science National Research Networks (NRN) Project. This will include dedicated high speed connections between major Nodes. The resulting data environment is not intended to be exclusive to the use of RDSI Project stakeholders. Rather, the delivery of the RDSI Project is expected to contribute to the development of an open infrastructure that institutions, disciplines and research facilities can expand or extend to meet other requirements and into which other sector interests can add capability over time. 2.2 Outcomes of the Project The RDSI Project will deliver a national infrastructure able to hold significant collections of research data. That infrastructure will comprise: A small number of high capacity Nodes where each Node will contain multiple petabytes of storage configured to support the classes of access and retention appropriate to the research data held; A dedicated high speed inter-connection network with high bandwidth low latency connections that will support replication and data transfer between Nodes; A common access infrastructure to provide a uniform experience for common researcher access to all the data held; and Appropriate specialist access infrastructure hosting specialist access tools appropriate to the disciplines closely related to these national collections. As a result of this infrastructure: RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 14 of 67

Researchers will be able to use and manipulate significant collections of data that were previously either unavailable to them or difficult for them to access; Research outcomes will be improved as a result of improved access to this data; Researchers will be able to access the data in a consistent manner which will support a general interface as well as discipline specific access; Researchers will be able to use the consistent interface established by this project for access to data collections at participating institutions and other locations as well as data held at the Nodes; In arriving at this infrastructure, the RDSI Project will leverage its purchase power to also develop a panel of vendors to help reduce storage costs across the Research and Education sector. 2.3 Implementation Principles Accordingly, the development and operation of the data storage infrastructure will be guided by the following principles: The RDSI project will provide data storage capabilities for identified research data holdings of lasting value and importance. The primary purposes should be to support collaboration around data and the development and use of research data collections. The RDSI should be managed to create a coherent national research data environment. The RDSI should hold research data, sourced from Australia and overseas, including from publicly funded research organisations and other sources relevant to research. The data held should be data intended for collaborative research purposes and should be accessible, for the purposes of research, subject to appropriate access rules. The quality of service should be appropriate to research needs. Access controls should support content providers in managing their own access rules. Overall, the implementation of the RDSI Project must establish, operate and provide access to Project infrastructure in accordance with the EIF principles, listed below: Principle 1: Principle 2: Principle 3: Projects should address national infrastructure priorities Projects should demonstrate high benefits and effective use of resources Projects should efficiently address infrastructure needs Principle 4: Projects should demonstrate they achieve established standards in implementation and management. The organisations participating in the Project must endeavour to establish, operate and/or provide access to the facilities in a manner which: takes into account the long-term strategic requirements of relevant research disciplines; enhances national and international collaboration in research; enhances research capability for relevant disciplines; provides for merit-based access to the facilities in accordance with the norms and expectations of the research community; has a strong emphasis on service provision to the research community; and has a strong emphasis on the effective use of data and compute resources RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 15 of 67

2.4 Context and Scope of the Project 2.4.1 Context The implementation of the RDSI Project will occur within a complex environment with competing sector, discipline and institutional priorities and varying technological requirements. The implementation of the RDSI Project will seek to realise economies of scale in a national data management and access system. While the data storage infrastructure may be composed of a combination of technologies from a number of suppliers, it is intended that all parts of it should be capable of being accessed through a common interface. The resulting data environment should support specific identified data needs, but also be easily augmented by institutions, disciplines and research facilities, on a needs or interest basis, at an incremental cost. Some of the drivers underpinning these objectives are as follows: At a very broad level, data intensive research and data re-use are important contributors to innovation excellence. In addition, improved data re-use also assists effective collaboration, providing a second contribution to innovation excellence and therefore future prosperity. At a research sector level, the growing requirement to manage research data better and to more easily support collaboration is ubiquitous. However, for the first time, the acceleration in the generation of data is outstripping growth in data storage capacities. Over time, the research sector will therefore need to devote more resources to the management of data. Experience from the commercial sector shows that very significant economies of scale can be achieved, using highly sophisticated implementation strategies, while providing accessible data storage and data analysis capabilities. Public and private storage providers and storage infrastructure providers are developing new approaches to data infrastructure that could be adapted to the advantage of the research sector. At the discipline level, developments in data gathering and data management also demonstrate a trend towards the development and adoption of shared global standards and open access protocols, enabling the re-use of data to become increasingly efficient and costeffective over time. The vast bulk of the research data that will need to be managed in 2015 has not yet been generated. Putting in place the foundations to better manage data in the future is an urgent requirement with potentially significant benefits. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 16 of 67

2.4.2 Scope The Project will undertake activities across four key programme areas as follows: Programme Area Node Development (NoDe) Research Data Services (ReDS) Data Sharing Services (DaSh) Vendor Panel (VePa) Scope To assist the development of research data storage services and their supporting infrastructure. To accelerate the aggregation of data and the co-location of data with analysis capabilities. To provide a uniform data access, sharing and movement capability commensurate with the importance, volume and complexity of the large volumes of data the RDSI will hold. A programme to establish a vendor panel for use by RDSI and the sector. The Project will ensure that: the needs and expectations of institutions are factored into overall strategy-setting, decisionmaking and management processes; services enabled by the Project s infrastructure are tailored to meet the specific needs of different research contexts; co-investors in the Project realise improved services for the researchers they support; the performance of the infrastructure is measured against improvements to research outcomes; Intellectual Property and other rights are managed in a way that permits the re-deployment of data from one jurisdiction to another, whenever possible; and Infrastructure is developed and installed for operation in enduring organisations, being the University of Queensland and the Project Sub-Contractors, as a basis for sustained operation of the Nodes. The scope of the Project will also account for the growing role of commercial providers, including public storage providers. It is likely that from time to time, commercial services will arise that can support or more effectively provide elements of the RDSI functionality. The Project will therefore ensure that investments are managed in a way that allows commercial services and software tools to be evaluated and adopted when appropriate over time. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 17 of 67

2.5 Participating Organisations Key participating organisations and their roles and responsibilities are described in the Table below. This list will be updated as necessary in Annual Business Plans. Organisation The University of Queensland (UQ) Node Operators (sub-contracting to UQ) Affiliates (will subcontract to UQ if receiving funding) Role and Responsibilities Signatory to the funding agreement with the Commonwealth Direct recipient of EIF Funds Responsible for managing distribution of EIF funds through subcontracting arrangements Responsible for meeting Commonwealth reporting and accountability requirements Responsible for overall management of the Project Establishes the RDSI Project Board and the Infrastructure Advisory Panel and Resource Allocation Panel Appoints the Project Director and Board Chair with the approval of the Department Appoints such support staff as agreed with the Department Node Operators are those organisations that agree to operate storage systems to support the RDSI services, and to make them available for open research access Node Operators will assist the University of Queensland in identifying important data assets for capacity allocations across the RDSI Nodes Node Operators will agree to allow and to support access to RDSI funded facilities needed by data sharing services funded under the DaSh programme, as determined by the RDSI Project Board. Affiliated operators are those organisations that either directly federate their own storage services with the RDSI DaSh Data Sharing Service or agree to allow access to their own data through a DaSh access mechanism. The DaShNet data transfer mechanism removed the need for Affiliates. The RDSI Project Infrastructure will be developed and implemented by the University of Queensland and other organisations acting as Sub-Contractors. All Node Operators funded by the RDSI project must be Sub-contractors to UQ. The RDSI Project Board will recommend all Sub-Contractors to the University of Queensland. UQ will seek agreement from the Department with sufficient advance notice that each Sub-Contractor is acceptable. This approval will be obtained before the University of Queensland enters into contractual arrangements with Sub-Contractors for the purposes of this Project. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 18 of 67

2.6 Management and implementation arrangements The University of Queensland will have overall responsibility for the Project in accordance with the reporting and accountability requirements outlined in the RDSI Funding Agreement. The Project will be managed through the arrangements described in section 4.1. The RDSI Project Board provides overall guidance and recommendations to the University of Queensland and the Project Director concerning the Project and will assist the Project Director refine and adjust the specifics of the activities outlined in the Project Plan. No other activity is undertaken without the prior written agreement of the Department. The University of Queensland sub-contracts with organisations to establish, operate and/or provide access to Project infrastructure as defined in the Project Plan. These Sub-Contractors must be agreed by the Department before the Sub-Contractors work may commence. The University of Queensland s sub-contract with a Sub-Contractor, where appropriate, require the Sub-Contractor to act in accordance with the principles set out above. Where relevant, the University of Queensland may identify a Sub-Contractor for a Sub-Project involving multiple organisations. The Sub-Contractor of such Sub-Projects may be contracted to manage and report on the entire Sub-Project and all funding and infrastructure associated with that Sub-Project. Each Sub-Contractor (Node) is required to ensure that the Project infrastructure operates for an agreed period determined on a case by case basis, but in all cases, extending at least to June 2015. 2.7 Relationship to other eresearch investments The implementation of the RDSI Project will foster and leverage key linkages across other eresearch investments under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) Programme and the Super Science Initiative, including: NeCTAR The RDSI Project will rely on the parallel development of the NeCTAR Project funded under Super Science, as it is expected that NeCTAR s functions and capabilities will be more readily achieved by colocating significant components of its infrastructure with RDSI Nodes. ANDS The RDSI Project will support the processes and frameworks developed by the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) and will ensure alignment between the delivery of the RDSI Nodes and the use of ANDS infrastructure. NRN The National Research Network (NRN) Project, funded under Super Science, specifically includes provision for the high-bandwidth connection of data stores, represented by the RDSI Nodes, under this Project. It is expected that the NRN Project will respond appropriately to the identified needs under the RDSI. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 19 of 67

AAF The Australian Access Federation (AAF) provides federated identity services to its members who are universities and research organisations throughout Australia and New Zealand. The RDSI project will rely on the AAF for federated identity management. Rationale The rationale for this relationship between the projects is that research collaboration fundamentally depends on the easy sharing of content, and the RDSI Project will provide a foundational storage solution. This storage solution will operate with high reliability, making it likely to be more efficient to co-locate relevant services with RDSI Nodes, than to develop separate high reliability sites. This colocation would also reduce network costs associated with moving large volumes of data for analysis and re-use. It is important that RDSI arrangements ensure that appropriate research infrastructure services, including the eresearch services of NeCTAR and ANDS, also integrate fully with RDSI infrastructure. The RDSI project will therefore establish working relationships with the NeCTAR, NRN, AAF and ANDS Projects. 2.8 Funding arrangements The total Commonwealth funding for the Project was $50 million over three years: $24 million in 2010-11, $13 million in 2011-12 and $13 million in 2012-13, with the project variation these figures have been adjusted to fulfil the project objectives until the end of 2014. Funding is being provided from EIF under the Nation-building Funds Act 2008, which has the authority to fund the creation and development of research infrastructure. Funding is provided through the Funding Agreement signed between the University of Queensland and the Department signed on 23 December 2010. The Commonwealth funding is intended to support the development, deployment and commissioning of facilities and infrastructure by the Project, including agreed project management costs. The University of Queensland and its Sub-Contractors must meet the associated operational costs of those facilities and infrastructure including the employment of appropriate staff to manage and sustain them. Where specific Project infrastructure is to be developed or delivered by the University of Queensland, the approval, reporting and performance management processes will be the same as for any other party delivering Project infrastructure, except that no sub-contract will be required. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 20 of 67

3 Project Implementation The RDSI project achieved its objectives with substantial progress recorded during the 2013-2014 period. Key matters are summarised under the relevant headings. Milestones for the 2014-2015 Project Plan are summarised in each relevant section. Staffing requirements are summarised in section 6. As part of the project implementation there has been an emphasis in comprehensively consulting stakeholders and Nodes for their input in all of the RDSI programmes and as a result a number of subprojects have emerged and are being deployed by Nodes and other Higher Education and Research sector stakeholders. 3.1 Node Development (NoDe) Programme The NoDe programme was designed to identify, strengthen and develop research data centres able to hold and process high data volumes. Six Primary Nodes and two Additional Nodes have signed up the Node agreement and the ReDS seed funding deed of variation with UQ and are fully operational, ingesting data and supporting collections for researchers. A second ReDS deed of variation has been signed by some Nodes and it is anticipated that all Nodes will sign this variation that amongst other items extends the Node operations to June 2015. As part of this programme RDSI collates the information provided by Nodes to deliver regular reports on Node status and data collection performance which are published on the RDSI Portal on pages https://www.rdsi.edu.au/node-statuses and https://www.rdsi.edu.au/collections-stored. Further work to fully automate and integrate Node s reports with the RDSI Portal are well under way as part of the DaSh programme. In addition to the currently semi-automated reports Nodes also report on their asset register identifying the physical location of assets created and developed with funding from the NoDe and ReDS programmes. The information collected will be reported to the Department via the Annual Project Report in September 2014. As Nodes further develop their infrastructure frequent Node SC and TAC meetings are no longer necessary. It is proposed that the Node SC meets three-monthly and ad-hoc when necessary. Workshops will continue to occur as needed. It is proposed that the TAC meetings be abolished as the DaSh programme sub-projects have steering committees that fulfil the role of the TAC, are well defined and most towards completion. Nodes deployment and data collections growth successes will continue to be shared with the Higher Education and Research community to ensure researchers are aware of Nodes performance, capabilities and collections available. The Node Development Manager will continue to work closely with Nodes to assist the Project Office with Node coordination, monitoring and reporting. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 21 of 67

A summary of the major NoDE Programme activities is outline below. Description of activity Start Timeline End RDSI SC meetings with Nodes August 2014 December 2014 RDSI regular monitoring of Node status July 2014 December 2014 Second Node Asset Registry to the Department in RDSI Project Annual Report * July 2014 September 2014 RDSI presence at eresearch Conference October 2014 Node Asset Registry Report to RDSI Office January 2015 February 2015 * Milestone is subject to Nodes providing information to RDSI project office. 3.2 ReDS Programme The overarching goal of the Research Data Storage Infrastructure (RDSI) project is to support researchers and institutions to more effectively use, manage, share and preserve much larger amounts of research data and support the development, use and manipulation of significant collections of data that were previously either unavailable or difficult to access. Within the RDSI Project the Research Data Services (ReDS) programme contributes to this goal by identifying research data collections of lasting value and importance and contributing funding to their development at Primary or Additional Nodes. The development and operation of the RDSI infrastructure is guided by a number of key principles as originally outlined in the RDSI Funding Agreement and Final Project Plan. The most significant of these in the context of the development of the RDSI Node allocated ReDS storage are: The RDSI project will provide data storage capabilities for identified research data holdings of lasting value and importance; The primary purposes should be to support collaboration around data and the development and use of research data collections; The data held should be data intended for collaborative research purposes and should be accessible, for the purposes of research, subject to appropriate access rules; and The quality of service should be appropriate to research needs. The Final RDSI Project Plans also identified systemic benefits, in that the project would: improve the availability of quality research data for sharing and re-use and, as a result, expand the scale and scope of problems that Australian researchers may seek to address; improve research efficiency; and enable more extensive collaboration. These overarching and enduring aims were considered as the allocation model was implemented. The 2013-2014 RDSI Annual Business Plan aims are still valid. In summary there are three currently approved routes for ReDS funding: Initial Research Data Storage Merit Allocation Storage of $1,000,000 for Primary Nodes and $300,000 for Additional Nodes, together with Collection Development Storage of $200,000 RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 22 of 67

for Primary Nodes and $60,000 for Additional Nodes. All Nodes have received these allocations. Interim Research Data Storage Merit Allocation Storage and Collection Development Storage funding similar to the initial provisioning advance. This is currently being contracted with nodes. Ongoing Research Data Storage Merit Allocation Storage and Collection Development Storage funding or top ups. This is currently being contracted with Nodes. This ABP proposes an additional route, termed the RDSI Board Allocation Process. This has been developed to cater for the storage of large collections at Nodes. It results from extensive consultation with Nodes and has been recommended by the RDSI Board and the Lead Agent. All Node operators have indicated their support for it. 3.2.1 Initial Research Data Storage All Nodes have received funding for this. It has resulted, to date, in 33.718 Petabytes of Research Data being approved by Merit Allocation Committees for storage with 9.252 Petabytes of this having been ingested into Nodes Stores and available for research use. 3.2.2 Interim Research Data Storage An interim data storage funding has been approved by the Department and is available for Research Data Storage - Merit Allocation Storage and Research Data Storage Collection Development Storage with a maximum per Node as described in the following table: Interim ReDS funding Amount Merit Allocated Amount Collection Development Primary Nodes $1.0M $200K Additional Nodes $0.3M $60K To be eligible to receive Interim ReDS funding, Nodes must: a. Be in substantial compliance with existing requirements under its contract with UQ; and b. Have ingested and made available to researchers, collections with a stored size of at least 500 Terabytes for a Primary Node or 200 Terabytes for an Additional Node; and c. Have not applied for ongoing ReDS funding. Nodes may apply to the Director RDSI for access to interim ReDS funding and, in their application, should confirm: The amount of data that has been ingested and is available to researchers; Their level of compliance with the contract between UQ and the Node; A statement of intent against the use of Interim ReDS payment which provides the subcontractor s current estimate on: o the timing for the completion of ReDS activities using funding already provided o the timing for acquisition of storage using this Interim ReDS funding o the storage configuration and capacity that might be acquired with this funding and o the timeline for the subsequent ingest into that storage. Each Node may make one application only for Interim ReDS funding. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 23 of 67

3.2.3 Ongoing Research Data Storage (Top-up Funding) The Ongoing Research Data Storage funding as described in the 2013-2014 ABP has been updated and is available to Nodes in addition to the Interim ReDS funding. If the Node receives Interim ReDS funding, a minimum ingestion threshold will apply. Ongoing ReDS funding is available for the cost of storage for data over and above the amount of the Interim payment. The initial Research Data Services described in the 2013-2014 ABP cease to apply and is replaced by Introduction to Ongoing Research Data Storage described in section 3.2.3.1. Any uncommitted funding held by the Node in connection with the initial Research Data Services must be refunded to UQ within 30 days of signing the new ReDS Interim Research Data Storage deed of variation or used for the purpose of the Ongoing Research Data Services activities described herein. 3.2.3.1 Introduction to Ongoing Research Data Storage The activities described herein are based on the activities and specifications described in the 2013-2014 ABP. A review of the outcomes and operations of the ReDS programme will be periodically conducted by the RDSI Project Office. The ReDS Programme will support two forms of allocated storage: Merit Allocation Storage; and Collection Development Storage. Merit Allocation Storage is provisioned and allocated by Nodes and is funded solely through the ReDS Programme, although the Node may draw on other funding sources to support broader use cases. Collection Development Storage is provisioned and allocated by the Node and is funded through both the Node Development funding and the ReDS Programme Collection Development Storage funding. The Node will receive additional ReDS programme funds equal to 20% of the value of subsequent provisioning tranches provided to the Node via Merit Allocation Storage. The Node will receive funds for provisioning infrastructure in advance of allocations, as detailed later. 3.2.3.1.1 Operation of Merit Allocation Storage The ReDS allocation framework, developed in conjunction with Nodes, has been designed to enable effective decision making whilst providing the necessary rigor, transparency and collaboration. Through their membership and financial stakeholders, the Node will provide an avenue for considering the long term implications of committing to ingest and sustain data. Delegated authority The process for allocating Merit Allocation Storage delegates decision making to the Node and makes it accountable to the Department of Education ( Department ), through the governance and subcontracting arrangements of the RDSI Project, for ensuring that the collections selected for support meet the goals of the RDSI Project. Approach The implementation of the framework comprises: An allocation process for Merit Allocation Storage to be delegated to the Node; An Allocation Committee established by the Node to provide expert advice to the Subcontractor regarding allocation of storage; RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 24 of 67

A provisioning process to provide funding to the Node for Merit Allocation Storage and additional Collection Development Storage infrastructure; and Reporting of governance and technical arrangements, and process outcomes. Allocations require endorsement by both a nominated representative of the Node and the Chair of the Allocation Committee. 3.2.3.1.2 Allocation Committees Establishing the Allocation Committee The Node will establish an Allocation Committee to consider and approve the allocation of RDSIfunded Merit Allocation Storage that is or will be operated by the Node. The Allocation Committee will comprise of members selected on the basis of individual and collective expertise related to the merit criteria and in accordance with the allocation committee structure and terms of reference outlined or referenced in this plan. The RDSI Project Office will publish the membership of each allocation committee online (https://www.rdsi.edu.au/macs and in annual reports to the Department. Allocation Committee Structure The structure of each allocation committee, and any working groups and/or sub-committee s established to provide advice to an allocation committee will be determined by the Node. Each of these entire arrangements will be considered to be, as a whole, an Allocation Committee. When reference is made to the members of an allocation committee this includes all participants of the standing arrangements of the Allocation Committee. Each Node will appoint a chair for the Allocation Committee (Chair). The Chair will act as the authority for the Allocation Committee by signing all allocation recommendations agreed by the Committee. Every allocation proposal has 2 signatures, one from the chair of the allocation committee that made the recommendation and one from the Node head that committed to provide the service. The Chair is not allowed to sign the new deed of variation for the Ongoing Research Data Storage Allocation Committee Terms of Reference The terms of reference for the Allocation Committee must include the minimum set of requirements outlined in this agreement. However, the Node may decide to include additional terms of reference in order to accommodate their particular governance arrangements and business models. At a minimum, the terms of reference will include that the Allocation Committee will: Provide advice to the Node for all allocation proposals presented by the Node, ensuring recommendations are consistent with the Guidelines for allocations described or referenced in the ABP 2013 2014; Review progress of allocations against milestones and advise the Node on the extent to which allocations should be modified where fulfilment of milestones is unlikely; and Manage conflicts of interest appropriately. On the basis of advice from their Allocation Committee the Node will advise the RDSI Project Office of allocations made and also of allocations modified, where that occurs. Allocation Committee Membership RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 25 of 67

The Node will appoint members of the Allocation Committee in accordance with the following guidelines. The membership will take effect when notified to the RDSI Project. Allocation Committee members must be able to consider data collection allocation proposals against the merit criteria outlined in Allocation Checklist. Members would also support principles of research data sharing and be familiar with relevant national and local data sharing and data management initiatives. All Allocation Committee members will be appointed for their recognised abilities to provide considered advice to the Node. The Allocation Committee members will have expertise in any of the following areas: Research and development activities; Data curation and management; Data intensive research; International and national activities providing research infrastructure and services; Information and Communications Technologies; and Any additional skills as required by the Node to support the Node business model. Members of the Allocation Committee would also have capacity to contribute to decision making in one or more of the following areas: Awareness of institutional priorities for research and research data, specifically in relation to the participants in the Node; Awareness of the intended focus for the Node and the nature of the available capacity and expertise available to support data collections; Expertise in research data activities, particularly with respect to curation and data practice; Expertise in research and data use in priority research areas; or Expertise in delivering effective data services. The membership of the Allocation Committee may be changed at any time at the discretion of the Node by notifying the RDSI Project Office of the revised membership. The Node will inform the RDSI Project Office of the membership of its Allocation Committee when established, and as soon as practical when changes occur. The RDSI Project Office will publish membership information on the RDSI website and in annual reports to the Department and other relevant documentation comprising the title, name and organisational affiliation of all members of the Allocation Committee. The Node will ensure at all times that when an allocation is made and notified to the RDSI Project Office, the status of the Allocation Committee membership that recommended that allocation, is correct. Allocation checklist The Allocation Committee will consider allocation proposals and provide advice to the Node on the basis of the following checklist. Supported collections should meet the mandatory criteria outlined in Section A, conform to at least one of the characteristics in Section B and have pathways for achieving the quality criteria in Section C that are relevant to the collection and its intended use. The source of data could be an individual researcher, a community of researchers, an instrument or data producing infrastructure investment, RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 26 of 67

a data gathering or production activity undertaken with parties outside the sector or indeed a data source entirely outside the sector. SECTION A (must meet all) Is the collection under review: of importance as an input to future research; relevant to research questions of interest to a variety of researchers; accessible, for the purposes of research, subject to appropriate access rules; discoverable through registration in discipline/domain registries, or generic registries such as Research Data Australia; and an input to research supported by at least one participant organisation in the Node. SECTION B (must meet at least one) Is the collection under review: observational data that is collected, curated and made available to third party researchers; generated data that is developed as an information product to underpin the research of third party researchers; aggregated data that is assembled by individuals or research communities in order to make research questions more addressable; and/or a mirror of international collections that are held locally, for purposes of improved performance and reduced cost. SECTION C (note any criteria that are met) Is the collection under review fit for its intended purpose, which may be: relevant to a broad user base within or across disciplines and domains; readily accessible, with respect to connectivity and integration, recognising any constraints such as legal, licensing or ethical requirements; in reusable forms, well described and documented, to support long-term access and management; citable through a mechanism such as a digital object identifier; and of sufficiently high quality and fit for purpose, as indicated by domain-relevant measures such as completeness, coverage, and resolution. Additional allocation criteria Node Allocation Committees will also consider the following when making decisions: The feasibility of achieving the proposed ingest and quality assurance milestones; The ability of the Node to accommodate ongoing support implications; The suitability of the class and structure of storage for the intended purpose; and The reasonable apportioning of resources across stakeholder domains. Data ineligible for allocation ReDS funding cannot be used to support data: RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 27 of 67

That is only intended for the exclusive use of the research group producing the data or a small set of its collaborators; That is only retained by an institution as evidence of research activity undertaken by that institution; Where the sole intention is to provide long-term data protection; or That is being spooled or cached between generation and use (i.e. in the workflow). Merit Allocations The allocation process is the mechanism by which Merit Allocation Storage is assigned to particular data. All allocation proposals will be submitted for consideration by the Allocation Committee of the Node. The Node will advise the RDSI Project Office of approved allocations, using a standard form with the fields shown in the Allocation Proposal Form described in Appendix C. The Allocation Proposal Form comprises two parts: Part A Describes the intent of the allocation, in terms of the properties, nature and expected impact to research and project objectives. This information will be made public and will be reported to the Department. Part B Describes the manner in which the intent will be realised in the form of delivery milestones set out as a schedule listing the volume and dates for ingestion of the data collection. This will enable the tracking of progress in the completion of milestones and will be used to monitor storage use. Maximum Total Allocations The Node will limit the volume of allocations so that the storage required to support those allocations can be installed with the funds received up to that time. Milestones Each allocation will commit the Node to milestones for ingest and availability: An ingest milestone is a commitment to ingest a specified volume of data (TB) into the Subcontractor s facility by a specified date. An ingest milestone may comprise multiple storage classes. The full ingestion of data (100% of allocation) is a mandatory ingest milestone. Additional milestones may be set for 25%, 50% and 75% of allocated volume if agreed by Nodes and data custodians. The date associated with a milestone is not binding. Each allocation must be described by a collection record on a public data discovery portal (for example Research Data Australia) prior to the achievement of the first milestone associated with the collection; Each allocation must be accessible and available for re-use to the extent of the last achieved milestone, as agreed by the Node sallocation Committee. The allocation process is operated by the Node individually, however the Node may collaborate with other RDSI Node operators to support national or broadly based collections that might require storage that is distributed across multiple Nodes. Adjusting Milestones The Node may change a milestone at any time, including adding or removing non-mandatory milestones. Any changes to milestones must be agreed by the Node s Allocation Committee and reported to the RDSI Project Office using the Allocation Proposal Form. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 28 of 67

Reviewing Milestones The RDSI Project Office will periodically identify allocations made by the Node to be independently reviewed. A review will consist of checks to confirm that the data is discoverable, accessible and of the volume reported. The reviews will be carried out by the RDSI Project Office or appropriate RDSI-funded resources. Withdrawing Milestones Where a milestone or milestones have been met and funded and the data subsequently becomes unavailable for an extended period the RDSI project may seek remedial actions. Such action may include debiting the cost of the relevant storage against subsequent RDSI funding received by the Node. 3.2.3.1.3 Storage Architecture The Node will provide the RDSI Project Office with an architecture document describing the planned and actual RDSI-funded storage solutions. The document will include sufficient detail to identify the cost structure for storage services. The initial architecture document must be received prior to the release of additional ReDS Provisioning Funds. The Node may change the architecture at any time. The RDSI Project Office must receive an updated architecture document prior to the purchase of alternative infrastructure. 3.2.3.1.4 Reporting and monitoring The RDSI Project Office will, as required in the Head Agreement and Final Project Plan, monitor and report on operational and performance aspects of the ReDS Programme, including the operations of the Node. The RDSI Project Office will use that information for administration and reporting. Some data will be published, directly or in aggregate, in Annual Reports and on the RDSI website. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 29 of 67

3.2.4.1.5 Governance and processes Reporting Item Mechanism Frequency Comments Allocation Committee terms of reference Document Initial version and as changed Initially provided to RDSI Project Office. Acceptance by RDSI Board required prior to first allocation. Allocation Committee membership Email Initial version and as changed Initial provided to RDSI Project Office prior to first allocation; Information includes name, organisation(s) and role(s) for all members. Approved Allocations Form Within 1 month of approval (new items) Upload form until an online form is made available by RDSI Project Office. Completion of allocation milestones Form Within 1 month of completion (new items) Upload form until an online form is made available by RDSI Project Office. Provisioned storage Form Within 1 month of provisioning (new items) Upload form until an online form is made available by RDSI Project Office. ReDS Architecture Storage Document As updated Initially provided to the RDSI Project Office prior to the release of additional ReDS Provisioning Funds. Infrastructure Reporting Item per Node Mechanism Frequency Comments Total raw 1 capacity for each ReDS Merit Allocation Storage class XMPP or such other mechanism as may be agreed with the RDSI Project Director Daily In TB Weekly by email with immediate effect Exported automatically by September 2014 Total usable 2 capacity for each Merit Allocation Storage class XMPP or such other mechanism as may be agreed with the RDSI Project Director Daily In TB Weekly by email with immediate effect Exported automatically by September 2014 1 Raw storage is the maximum physical volume of the media before any logical partitioning is applied. 2 Usable storage is the available storage presented by the storage system before any limits are applied for performance purposes. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 30 of 67

Used 3 capacity for each Merit Allocation Storage class XMPP or such other mechanism as may be agreed with the RDSI Project Director Daily In TB Weekly by email with immediate effect Exported automatically by September 2014 Total usable Collection Development Storage Capacity XMPP or such other mechanism as may be agreed with the RDSI Project Director Daily In TB Weekly by email with immediate effect Exported automatically by September 2014 Allocated Collection Development Storage Capacity XMPP or such other mechanism as may be agreed with the RDSI Project Director Daily In TB and number of allocations Weekly by email with immediate effect Exported automatically by September 2014 3 Used capacity is the volume of usable storage filled by allocated collections and related logical structures. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 31 of 67

Data Holdings Descriptor Structure Comments Collection Name Title of data collection Identify collection and aid discovery Collection Overview Brief description of the data collection Aid discovery and re-use. Data provider Data manager/steward (where relevant) Node(s) Merit and significance description Allocated volume Licensing Contact details for the provider or representative. List of contact details for the person or role authorised to act on behalf of the data owner. List current and proposed locations for the data, including other Nodes and authoritative sources (for mirrored data). Up to 300 words The size of the research data collection Description of general conditions for re-use of data for research. Collection management purposes. Collection management purposes. To enable coordination among Nodes and RDSI. Also, to provide funding for sufficient, though not excessive, distributed storage. Descriptions demonstrating value of the data as an input to research Storage management and funding. Indicate the level of openness to potential research users. Also to give researchers confidence that they can share data whilst still retaining rights. Fields of Research List of Fields of Research (2, 4 or 6 digit code levels) that this data may be relevant to and usable by. Aid researchers' discovery of resources that may be useful to their areas of interest. Discoverability List of URLs for primary published metadata records for Data Collection. Descriptions enabling discovery and re-use of data, and linkage with existing metadata sources and discovery channels. Data access model Description of general access model. Indicate the degree of accessibility to potential research users. Primary data source Identify primary source To assist with prioritising data collections and data protection. During each month, funding for the Ongoing Research Data Storage will be calculated as the cost of the storage used in the completion of a milestone in the preceding month and its associated RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 32 of 67

requirements. The cost of the storage is the actual cost of the infrastructure used to complete the milestone as described in the current Storage Architecture document provided by the Node. Operational and support costs are not included. For the purpose of calculating funding a milestone is complete when the requisite volume of data has been ingested and made available as approved by the Allocation Committee for that allocation and reported to the RDSI Project Office in accordance with the required mechanism. The Director, RDSI may seek the approval of the RDSI Board in relation to any amount of Funding for the Ongoing Research Data Storage. If approval is requested then the Node may not be paid that amount of funding until approval is received. The funding will cease to be payable if sufficient funds are not available to RDSI for the ReDS programme. Nodes must ensure that the cost of provisioned storage does not exceed the RDSI/CAUDIT Vendor Panel pricing. During each month, funding for the Ongoing Research Data Storage Collection Development Storage will be calculated as 20% of the Funding for the Ongoing Research Data Storage Merit Allocation Storage payable in that month. 3.2.4 RDSI Board Allocation Process This additional process is proposed after extensive consultation with, and support from Nodes, together with approval from the RDSI Board and the Lead Agent. The RDSI Board Allocation Process will support allocations in addition to those supported by existing ReDS allocation committees, noting those committees allocate storage provisioned through ReDS funding provided in advance to Node operators and the proposed ingest driven re-provisioning top-up process. It is intended that the Board Allocation process will apply to well identified needs, not met, not easily met, or not met appropriately, through existing processes - hence the required allocations will present as exceptions to those processes. The intention is to support allocations in the form of several very large-scale data collections of national significance not well addressed by the current processes. Each of those collections would be supported by one or more Node operators and the resulting collections would continue to be available for the foreseeable future. It is not proposed that any specific level of funding must be allocated through this process; rather the justification for each allocation needs to be made in balance against alternative provisioning uses. However there is a recognition that data intensive communities and broad national data sharing communities are not well addressed by the current processes. More importantly they may not be addressed to their satisfaction which is an important factor in realising the impact of the RDSI Project. It is also recognised that in meeting such needs, existing provisioning processes can be used. It is likely that the RDSI ReDS funds may not be sufficient to cover all large collections identified. 3.2.4.1 Context From its conception, the RDSI project has had a clearly expressed interest in supporting major and significant data using communities. Those that would be most obviously supported by a performance, priority and scaled up allocation process are well known. For instance, the recently drafted RDSI NCRIS RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 33 of 67

2013 work plan builds around the NCRIS capability areas as indicators of national priority, international relevance and longstanding established national leadership. The components of that plan form consistent and coherent areas for storage provisioning. Other possible areas are consortiums of leadership that have emergent large data needs such as Centres of Excellence for example high energy physics. This process establishes criteria to support allocations by the RDSI Project board that prioritise on the basis that proposals: have value to the national and international research community; focus where appropriate leadership is available; be supported by suitably scaled commitments to associated data management; make use of storage provided within the RDSI project scope; and apply where scaled up or nationally coordinated allocations are required. 3.2.4.2 Process Given the interplay expected between ReDS allocation committees and this process, and that Node operators may have interests in multiple national scale collections, a three stage process is proposed: 1. Node operators separately or jointly approach or are approached by intensive sources of research data and research communities with large aggregated data assets, and as a result suitable support proposals are developed; 2. The RDSI Resource Allocation Panel will review proposals against the criteria below, and negotiate and refine the set of proposals that meet the criteria and lie within the funding scope and take account of existing ReDS committee based allocations that relate to the proposal; 3. That the panel s recommendations include consideration that all obvious areas are included or can be shown to be already aided by ReDS allocations. It is important to note that RDSI is not the only funding source in the research sector. A level of assistance toward solving data storage requirements is of value even if further resources must then be applied. 3.2.4.3 Proposals Proposals will have a limit of 6 pages and will explain how the funding allocation meets each of the following criteria: The data supported underpins research of identified national / international significance; The proposal accords with the needs of the associated research communities, and the stated missions of the related parties or institutions and participating Node operators; The support of that data aligns with other investments in research and research infrastructure; The proposal sets out an achievable storage infrastructure procurement strategy; The proposal sets out an achievable data ingest plan within the time frame of the RDSI Project; Appropriate data management effort will be committed to support the collection; RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 34 of 67

The Node operators have the commitment and support of the related parties and institutions; The extent of time over which the collection will be supported is clear, the access to be provided to the collection is clear and the mechanisms for sustaining the collection s ongoing accessibility are clear; The storage implementation meets stated goals in an efficient and effective manner; and The outcome requires a scaled up or a nationally coordinated allocation. 3.2.4.4 Development of Proposals Proposals will need to show that related research communities, institutions and infrastructure providers are engaged and intend to contribute to the ongoing success of the allocations once made. Where significant groundwork has not already been completed, a proposal would require substantial effort to be undertaken over the next few months. It is also obvious that strong engagement with the targeted research community is needed and that an appropriate person needs to undertake the development of each proposal. The areas of interest identified in the RDSI NCRIS 2013 project plan are a guide to likely areas. Consideration has already been given to those areas representing significant research needs around established and new research collections and matching the strategic priorities of the Node operators. The RDSI Board has decided that proposals must be submitted before 11pm, Australian Eastern Standard Time, on Thursday 24th April. They should be emailed to the RDSI Project Office (office@rdsi.uq.edu.au) and copied to the RDSI Project Director (n.tate@rdsi.uq.edu.au). They should be submitted by the authorised representative of a Node Operator, as defined in existing Node Subcontracts with the University of Queensland. The RDSI Resource Allocation Panel, supported by the RDSI Project Director, will review proposals against the criteria in order to make recommendations to the RDSI Board. At any time during the consideration of the proposal, the panel and the Project Director may seek further information from, or negotiate with proposers. The table below describes the main activities of the ReDS programme for this ABP. Description of activity Start Timeline End Support RAP in reviewing the Large collections proposals and submit to RDSI board for approval April 2014 May 2014 Announce accepted proposals May 2014 June 2014 Manage ReDS funding distributions for MAS and CD storage July 2014 December 2014 Review storage allocations regularly July 2014 December 2014 Monitor collection ingestion onto storage July 2014 December 2014 Monitor Collection usage July 2014 December 2014 RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 35 of 67

3.3 DaSh Programme The Data Sharing programme (DaSh) has built capability to support the sharing and re-use of research data. In order to identify what high performance data sharing and data movement services are needed by the sector this programme ran substantial consultations with relevant research sector stakeholders, researched and evaluated existing services and products. The extensive Node consultation undertaken in the past demonstrated that this programme needed to often evolve to accommodate the Nodes and researchers requirements. The approval from the Department allowing the RDSI project to fund two staff under the ReDS programme at each Node facilitated the management and progress of the DaSh programme. The RDSI project has funded a number of sub-projects described in section 3.3.1. Planning to hand over any tools, services or systems developed by the sub-projects will take place during Q3 and Q4 2014. 3.3.1 Outline of DaSh Themes The RDSI project Office oversees the development of DaSh themes. The themes are broken into subprojects which are outsourced to Nodes and higher education and research sector organisations. Subprojects have their own steering committees and report progress and outcomes to the RDSI project. Network theme DaShNet The network connecting Nodes to users and to each other The National Research Networks (NRN) project has a sub-project to fund the development of a network to support RDSI. This theme in consultation with AARNet and Nodes has developed a proposal to the NRN Steering Committee to fund the DaShNet proposal. AARNet was contracted to design and develop the network architecture. This theme has made enormous progress with AARNet progressing as per their project plan. Minor delays outside their control have been experienced however there is no indication at this stage that these will impact the DaShNet delivery by December 2014. RDSI receives regular project reports from AARNet and these are available upon request. AARNet will continue to support the DaShNet when the RDSI project concludes. In this case a handover is not necessary as AARNet is managing and delivering this RDSI component to Nodes and is signing agreements directly with Nodes. It is anticipated that the DaShNet project will develop a network infrastructure for RDSI that: Provides the reliable high speed broadband infrastructure between all RDSI Nodes to support the uploading, replication and distribution of data collections, and their integration with discipline-specialised services such as HPC and virtual labs. Provides the reliable high speed broadband infrastructure for researchers across Australia to access and use the data held at RDSI Nodes. Provides access to public cloud infrastructure providers to support collaboration around research data. Provides all RDSI Nodes with a connection optimised for data-intensive research. Provides, through the Nodes, access to external data sources of interest to Australian researchers that are not otherwise readily accessible directly over the AREN. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 36 of 67

The RDSI project in consultation with appropriate stakeholders will investigate if there is scope for a proposal to invest in additional Aspera product licenses for the Nodes. RDSI Data Mover Providing fast data movement between, into and out of Nodes This activity has been incorporated as part of DaShNet and is progressing as planned. Activities and timing The table below describes the main activities of the Network theme; most activities such as the Science DMZ, which is a portion of the network and provision of data access infrastructure (data mover) were incorporated into DaShNet project as the network is a pre-requisite for such activities to take place and AARNet is best placed to implement these with Node support. The end date means production ready. Description of activity Start Timeline End AARNet to develop DaShNet July 2014 December 2014 Provide DaShNet for Nodes and researcher s use July 2014 December 2014 The RDSI project to investigate if there is scope for a proposal to invest in additional Aspera product licenses for Nodes. Identity and Security theme Identity The Researcher Identity and Access management system (ReX) has been developed by the AAF and Nodes with support from the RDSI project Office. Nodes are in the process of testing and integrating the system with their in-house tools. It is possible that Nodes may propose improvements to the ReX System sub-project Steering Committee. Such improvements, if any will be considered by the RDSI project however these may be beyond the scope of this project. The RDSI project Office will handover the ReX System to the AAF to maintain and support the system for researchers after the conclusion of the RDSI project. Security July 2014 December 2014 It was anticipated that there would be significant security barriers to the successful deployment of RDSI storage, particularly for researchers connected across firewalls and other security barriers within institutions. Further, the speed of network connections between Nodes would require innovative approaches to security at high speed. The RDSI project developed security policy guidelines and models for Nodes and Institutions in consultation with stakeholders through a series of workshops (https://www.rdsi.edu.au/workshops). These are available on the RDSI website (https://www.rdsi.edu.au/security) and will be updated if necessary. This material will be available on the RDSI website after the project concludes. The table below describes the main activities of the Identity and Security theme for this ABP. The end date means production ready. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 37 of 67

Description of activity Start Timeline End RDSI project to consider ReX System improvement requests from Nodes July 2014 December 2014 Handover the ReX System to the AAF July 2014 December 2014 Data Access theme This theme supports the provision of common approaches to data access, sharing and movement capability commensurate with the importance, volume and complexity of the large volumes of data. RDSI ran a DaSh workshop with the Nodes and sister projects to identify proposals to complement the data access theme. The workshop occurred in February 2014 with Nodes proposing options for the implementation of systems to support additional data access methods, such as the Programmatic Access Service (OPeNDAP), file synchronisation or Dropbox like capability, integration of LiveArc and Aspera, and twelve months extended licence and maintenance of LiveArc for Nodes. These activities have been considered and approved by the RDSI Board and will be funded by RDSI and implemented and managed by the Nodes. The LiveARC sub-project and its integration with Aspera was funded by the RDSI project and is currently being deployed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) at each Node. SGI will hand over the LiveArc deployment to each Node before the conclusion of the RDSI project. The Programmatic Access Service will be deployed by NCI and made available to interested Nodes, similarly the Dropbox like capability developed by QCIF will be available to interested Nodes. The Researcher file syncing and sharing system project to refine the requirements further in conjunction with stakeholders will be managed by QCIF with appropriate reporting to the RDSI project Office. A proposal will be developed and proposed to the RDSI board for approval through the RDSI project. The LiveARC and Aspera integration will be delivered by Architecta/SGI to the Nodes. The LiveARC extended licence incorporates an additional year of maintenance for Nodes and will be delivered by SGI to Nodes. The table below describes the main activities of the Data Access theme. The end date means production ready. Description of activity Start Timeline End RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of the LiveArc project RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of the LiveArc and Aspera integration project RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of a dropbox like solution if approved by the RDSI Board July 2014 July 2014 July 2014 December 2014 December 2014 December 2014 RDSI project to fund the extended LiveArc license May 2014 September RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of April 2014 2014 February 2015 the programmatic data access service project RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 38 of 67

Workflow theme The Workflow theme was created to fund the streamlining of workflows to facilitate the discovery of collections for researchers and data custodians, the collection management available for Nodes, the storage allocation process, monitoring and reporting on Nodes, collections and performance. ReDS Application Processing Streamlined application and workflows for the ReDS programme The ARMS project enables streamlined allocation and discovery of collections under the ReDS programme. The first phase of ARMS was successful and the systems is in use. In consultation with Nodes additional requirements were identified and the second phase of ARMS is addressing these requirements and it is anticipated to be concluded in Q3 2014. ARMS production phase being developed and managed by QCIF will be made available to all interested Nodes by Q3 2014. RDSI DaShboard A system to automatically collect and publish Node and Collections metrics The RDSI DaShboard has been integrated in the RDSI portal and currently provides status on allocation and ingest by Node as well as general security information. Further data will be added as the outputs of the reporting project are integrated into the Dashboard. RDSI Portal Integrated access to RDSI elements/services. The RDSI portal has been developed and hosts all information related to RDSI Nodes, collections and available tools within RDSI. RDSI Monitoring Monitoring and reporting RDSI elements services at Nodes Automated monitoring arrangements are being developed by Nodes and will support reporting through the RDSI portal. This sub-project is overseen by the Node Development manager. The RDSI portal and its integrated components will be maintained by the RDSI project Office until June 2015. RDSI will seek an interested party to maintain the site after the project conclusion. In the unlikely event that a Nodes doesn t continue to run the RDSI website its content will be archived and stored at UQ. Description of activity Start Timeline End RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of ARMS project from QCIF July 2014 December 2014 RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of the monitoring and reporting project by Node July 2014 December 2014 RDSI to seek a Node to handover the RDSI portal July 2014 December 2014 Test Platform (former Node Zero theme) The test platform theme was created to support meaningful evaluation of RDSI funded infrastructure and applications in a realistic environment spanning over RDSI-funded Nodes. It provides a mechanism to allow Nodes to connect to a public cloud. This activity is currently being implemented with AARNet s support. RDSI has established a test platform which spans over multiple Nodes. This environment is available to test RDSI-related components, change management and integration testing. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 39 of 67

Creation of Support Materials Creating the resources needed for the future support of RDSI services The resources needed to allow the effective future support of RDSI services were achieved through the AeRO support project and is available at http://usersupport.aero.edu.au/good-practices/. The table below describes the main activities of the test platform theme to promote a stable environment to evaluate tools and resources required to implement and support RDSI project objectives at a production quality level. The end date means production ready. Description of activity Start Timeline End Enhance the durability and sustainability of Nodes by connecting to public clouds September 2013 December 2014 Manage the creation of support materials being developed by AeRO July 2013 June 2014 RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 40 of 67

3.4 VePa programme The Vendor Panel (VePa) programme was to provide options for potential RDSI Nodes and members of the Council of Australian University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT) to procure storage related infrastructure, software and services. The purposes for the programme were twofold. Firstly to allow Nodes, universities and other authorised users to avoid lengthy tendering processes by using an appropriately constructed panel and secondly to support volume pricing across Nodes and the wider Higher Education and Research Sector. A wide range of infrastructure and services are included on the panel and each Vendor has agreed to a Commonwealth Government Information Technology and Communications (GITC) compliant model contract (or its equivalent) which will significantly streamline the use of the panel across the university and research sector. The ongoing VePa RFP has been launched, vendors are able to submit their applications at any time, and the evaluation committee assesses these on a need basis. This facilitates the entrance to the Vendor Panel.) Currently there are 18 vendors on the panel. The complete list of the Vendor Panel is available at http://www.rdsi.uq.edu.au/vepa. The RDSI project Office will work with CAUDIT to facilitate the smooth hand over of the Vendor Panel to CAUDIT. The table below describes the main activities of the VePa Programme. VePa Programme Milestones 2014-2015 On-going evaluation and announcement of new vendors to the Vendor Panel Timeline Start End On-going December 2014 Handover of the Vendor Panel to CAUDIT July 2014 December 2014 RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 41 of 67

3.5 Project Conclusion At the time of writing this ABP it is expected that the RDSI project will conclude on the 31 December 2014 and measures will be put in place to hand over components of the DaSh Technical Architecture to the appropriate bodies. Project Conclusion Milestones 2014-2015 Start Timeline Develop project conclusion guidelines July 2014 October 2014 Annual RDSI Progress Report to the Department for approval August 2014 September 2014 RDSI project concludes December 2014 Final RDSI Report to the Department for approval January 2014 March 2015 End RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 42 of 67

4 Management and Implementation The 2014-2015 Annual Business Plan builds on the Project Plan, takes into consideration outcomes of the project, consultation with the sector during 2013-2014 and proposes the implementation and management of the project for the period of July 2014 to June 2015. The Board Terms of Reference and Operations are outlined in Appendix B for completeness. 4.1 Governance and Management Framework The Project governance framework is unchanged and will consist of: The University of Queensland, as detailed in section 4.1.1.1; a Project Board, as detailed in section 4.1.1.2; an Infrastructure Advisory Panel, as detailed in section 4.1.1.3; a Resource Allocation Panel as detailed in section 4.1.1.4; 4.1.1 Roles a Project Director to manage all aspects of the Project, as detailed in section 4.1.1.5; and appropriate legal, office and administrative, scoping, development and technical support needed by the Project Director. 4.1.1.1 The University of Queensland The University of Queensland will: provide a high level of responsiveness to the Department in relation to the Project; provide such reports as are defined in this agreement in a timely manner; appoint the Project Director, with the written approval of the Department and seek the Department s prior written approval to any replacement of, or alternative arrangements for, the Project Director; establish the Project governance and Project management mechanisms specified in this agreement in a timely manner, including Terms of Reference and Operating Procedures for the RDSI Project Board to be agreed with the Department; seek the Department s prior written approval of the appointment of Independent Chair and members of the RDSI Project Board and to the Infrastructure Advisory Panel and Resource Allocation Panel; seek the Department s written approval to Nodes to be established, as recommended by the RDSI Project Board; ensure the governance and management functions are diligent and effective; support the Project Director, including through the provision of the Project Office; engage and work with stakeholders in a transparent manner; comply with the requirements of this Agreement and use its best endeavours to carry out its role, to a high standard, with all due care, skill and judgment and in a manner that promotes the Objectives; and support the principle of the use of EIF funds for the creation and development of infrastructure. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 43 of 67

4.1.1.2 Project Board The Project Board will comprise of an Independent Chair, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Queensland or nominee, and up to seven other members. The Terms of Reference and Operations are described in Appendix B. 4.1.1.3 Infrastructure Advisory Panel The Infrastructure Advisory Panel will be a sub-committee of the RDSI Project Board chaired by a member of the RDSI Project Board, not otherwise holding an office related to the Project. The Infrastructure Advisory Panel will comprise up to six members, appointed by the RDSI Project Board, with the Project Director in attendance and providing the secretariat for the Panel. The Infrastructure Advisory Panel will: approve and recommend to the RDSI Project board the service and performance characteristics required for an RDSI Node; approve and recommend to the RDSI Project Board the principles and processes required in order for the Project to call for, and evaluate, proposals for Node Providers; receive from the RDSI Project Board responses to calls for Node Providers; review those proposals and recommend to the RDSI Project Board the Nodes to be created and the arrangements that should be put in place for those Nodes; and assist the Director on technical matters relating to the RDSI. 4.1.1.4 Resource Allocation Panel The Resource Allocation Panel will be a sub-committee of the RDSI Project Board chaired by a member of the RDSI Project Board, not otherwise holding an office related to the Project. The Resource Allocation Panel will comprise up to six members, appointed by the RDSI Project Board, with the Project Director in attendance and providing the secretariat for the Panel. The Resource Allocation Panel will advise the Board on ReDS and its role will be defined as part of the ReDS Programme. 4.1.1.5 Project Office The University of Queensland has established a Project Office, led by the Project Director. The Office comprises of a small team employed by, seconded to, or contracted to, the University of Queensland and is provided with office, administrative and IT support by the University of Queensland. This Annual Business Plans proposes slight variations to the arrangements described in the Project Plan to better support the RDSI project objectives. In addition to the Project Director, the Project Office will provide the following functions: executive support; administrative and technical project management; scoping and development, including through consultation with relevant stakeholders; legal support as appropriate, including for the delivery of sub-contracts; communications to support project outreach activities; and operations to support Node monitoring and reporting activities. To fulfil these functions, the following positions have been created within the project office: RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 44 of 67

Project Director The Project Director will: report to the University of Queensland delegate nominated in Schedule 1, Item I, of RDSI project agreement; support the RDSI Project Board in its role; undertake activities as required for the proper performance of the Project; receive advice from the RDSI Project Board with regard to the overall strategic directions of the Project and management and performance of the infrastructure in accordance with this Funding Agreement and the longer-term national strategic goals outlined in this plan; develop, propose and oversee activities that implement the objectives of the Project; and manage such other staff as may be appointed for purposes of the Project by the University of Queensland. Project Manager The role of the Project Manager is to develop, manage, monitor and report against the detailed RDSI Project Plan and the RDSI project budget. The detailed plan includes activities, resources and their allocation, risks and plans of sub-contracted organisations where this is necessary to support the overall plan. The role develops and manages reporting mechanisms for reporting to the RDSI board, the Australian Government and interested parties. This role also provides significant programme management to support the development of the vendor panel, support the IAP in evaluating Node proposals, and support the DaSh programme. Executive Officer The role of the Executive Officer is to provide administrative support to the Project Director, to staff within the RDSI project and to the RDSI project board and committees. This role manages the administrative functions of the RDSI office including the co-ordination of travel and events. University Legal Resource (up to 0.5 FTE) Legal resources will be required to develop sub-contracts and potential vendor contracts as well as providing legal advice to the RDSI project. It is envisaged that the Project Director, Project Manager, Executive Officer and the University Legal Resource would all be based at UQ in or near the RDSI project offices but that the Research Data Manager could be based elsewhere. Roles funded entirely from co-investment Communications Resource (up to 1 FTE) Communications resources are required to support RDSI s consistent outreach approach by providing a coordinated strategic and community focused engagement to divulge information and promote RDSI internally, externally across the sector and internationally. This role works closely with the Project Director and Project Manager. The expenses related to this resource are covered by the Primary Nodes co-investment contribution. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 45 of 67

Operations Resource (up to 0.5 FTE) Operations resources are required to support RDSI s consistent Node monitoring methodology. This resource will provide a coordinated approach to update the RDSI portal information and support Node performance transparency across the Nodes. In addition it will assist with the data collection performance publication. This role works closely with the Project Director and Project Manager. The expenses related to this resource are covered by the Primary Nodes co-investment contribution. 4.1.1.6 Committees Node Steering Committee The Node Steering Committee is comprised of the Node Proprietors, RDSI Director, RDSI Project Manager and other RDSI project members and Node members as needed. This group meets regularly to discuss strategic matters related to DaSh and ReDS programs, Node deployment, sustainability, reporting and any other matters needing attention. Technical Advisory Committee The Node Technical Advisory Committee is comprised of Node s technical staff appointed by the Node Proprietors, RDSI Director, RDSI Project Manager and other RDSI project members and Node members as needed. This group meets regularly to discuss technical matters related to DaSh and ReDS programs, Node deployment, sustainability, reporting and any other matters needing attention. Engagement Workgroup The Engagement Workgroup have a focus on establishing relationships and identifying storage and access requirements from disciplines and domains, in addition to a focus on providing technical solutions to the identified discipline and domain specific requirements. It is envisaged that it will consist of a joint RDSI and Node Engagement workgroup, through which the coordination of research sector engagement efforts and the coordination of Node staff activities can occur. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 46 of 67

5 Milestones 5.1 Milestones for 2014-2015 NoDE Programme Start Timeline End RDSI SC meetings with Nodes August 2014 December 2014 RDSI regular monitoring of Node status July 2014 December 2014 Second Node Asset Registry to the Department in RDSI Project July 2014 September 2014 Annual Report * RDSI presence at eresearch Conference October 2014 Node Asset Registry Report to RDSI Office January 2015 February 2015 ReDS Programme Start Timeline End Support RAP to reviewing the Large collections proposals and submit to RDSI board for approval April 2014 May 2014 Announce accepted proposals May 2014 June 2014 Manage ReDS funding distributions for MAS and CD storage July 2014 December 2014 Review storage allocations regularly July 2014 December 2014 Monitor collection ingestion onto storage July 2014 December 2014 Monitor Collection usage July 2014 December 2014 DaSh Programme Start Timeline End AARNet to develop DaShNet July 2014 December 2014 Provide DaShNet for Nodes and researcher s use July 2014 December 2014 The RDSI project to investigate if there is scope for a proposal to invest in additional Aspera product licenses for Nodes. RDSI project to consider ReX System improvement requests from Nodes July 2014 December 2014 July 2014 December 2014 Handover of the ReX System to the AAF July 2014 December 2014 RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of the LiveArc project RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of the LiveArc and Aspera integration project RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of a dropbox like solution if approved by the RDSI Board July 2014 December 2014 July 2014 December 2014 July 2014 December 2014 RDSI project to fund the extended LiveArc license May 2014 September 2014 RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 47 of 67

RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of the programmatic data access service project April 2014 February 2015 RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of ARMS project July 2014 December 2014 RDSI project to receive progress reports on the implementation of July 2014 December 2014 the monitoring and reporting project RDSI to seek a Node to handover the RDSI portal July 2014 December 2014 Enhance the durability and sustainability of Nodes by connecting to public clouds Manage the creation of support materials being developed by AeRO VePa Programme September 2013 December 2014 July 2013 June 2014 Timeline Start End On-going evaluation and announcement of new vendors to the Vendor Panel On-going December 2014 Handover of the Vendor Panel to CAUDIT July 2014 December 2014 Project Conclusion Start Timeline End Develop project conclusion guidelines July 2014 October 2014 Annual RDSI Progress Report to the Department for approval August 2014 September 2014 RDSI project concludes December 2014 Final RDSI Report to the Department for approval January 2014 March 2015 * Milestone is subject to Nodes providing information to RDSI project office. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 48 of 67

6 Project Resources It is anticipated that the NoDe manager, Research data managers, ReDS programme manager, Communications resource, Operations resource, Legal resource, Security Policy Manager, and consultants such as the Vendor Engagement Specialist and Solutions Specialist will be required to fulfil the project objectives until 31 December 2014. The Project Office including the Project Director, Project Manager and Executive Officer are required to fulfil the project objectives until 30 June 2015. The Storage Architect will not be required as RDSI has funded staff at the Nodes to assist in closing this gap. The total Commonwealth funding for the Project is $50 million and will be managed accordingly to ensure the project end date of 31 December 2014 is met within budget and budgeted expenses of the Project Office during the January to June 2015 are paid to UQ by the end of the project. 6.2 RDSI Income and Co-investment During the period from the start of the project until 28 April 2014 the project funds available are outlined in the table below: Project funds received from the Department $ 50,000,000 Interest income $ 3,407,839 Node co-investment $ 701,600 This does not represent any change from the previous project plan, which details co-investment for the project. Net funds available (including commitments) at 28 April 2014 are $16,717,596. 6.3 RDSI Expenditure The total project expenditure as of 28 April 2014 is $37,831,843. It is estimated that $16,717,596 project funds will be expended during the 2014-2015 period in the manner outlined below. Project Office It is estimated that the Project Office total expenditure by the end of the project will be $3,388,510 well under the revised budget approved by the Department on 26 April 2013 of $4,507,184, a savings to the project of $ 668,674. These estimates may require further refinement during the year depending on how many Board meetings occur and how many times the Vendor Panel will be updated. It is projected that by the end of the project a total of $901,600 will be spent from the Co-investment funds on staff salaries, communications and outreach activities. DaSh Programme It is anticipated that the total expenditure by the end of the project will be $7,695,000 to support the DaSh programme themes, staffing resources and travel expenses. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 49 of 67

NoDe Programme It is estimated that the NoDe programme s total expenditure by the end of the project will be $10,628,480 on Node development, Node Manager s salary and travel on-going expenses required to support the implementation of the NoDe Programme. ReDS Programme It is estimated that ReDS programme s total expenditure by the end of the project will be $31,395,849 using current interest earned on staffing resources, travel expenses, Node acceleration programme and ReDS distribution of data storage funds to Nodes. However, as the programme depends substantially on demand factors from Nodes which are difficult to predict, these estimates may require further refinement during the year. 6.4 Total Investment Summary The total Commonwealth funding for the Project is $50 million over three years: $24 million in 2010-11, $13 million in 2011-12 and $13 million in 2012-13. Estimated, actuals from the start of the project until April 2014, committed and budget expenditure for 2014-2015 are provided in the table below. This does not represent any change from the project plan. Node/Category RDSI PROGRAMME INVESTMENT SUMMARY Total Contracted Investment in RDSI by the Department Actuals to 28 April 2014, Committed Expenses & Budgeted Income Budgeted Expenses to December 2014 Estimated Budget Income to December 2014 NODE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME $10,628,480 $10,459,955 $168,525 ReDS PROGRAMME $28,389,978 $18,281,053 $13,574,796 DaSh PROGRAMME $7,695,000 $5,550,000 $2,145,000 PROJECT OFFICE $2,986,542 $2,986,542 $401,968 CO-INVESTMENT $901,600 OUTREACH ACTIVITIES FROM CO- INVESTMENT $474,293 $427,307 CONTINGENCY $300,000 $80,000 INTEREST EARNED $3,557,839 $90,000 TOTAL ESTIMATED INCOME $4,459,439 $90,000 TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENSES $50,000,000 $37,831,843 $16,717,596 ESTIMATED TOTAL REMAINING FUNDS BY DECEMBER 2014 $0 Note: Income/Revenue are shown in red It is planned that all RDSI project funds will be spent by the end of the project to support the project purposes, noting it is not possible to extend the project beyond 31 December 2014 as approved by the Department at the time of writing this ABP. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 50 of 67

7 Performance Indicators The key performance indicators for the RDSI project will be covered in detail at the Annual RDSI Progress Report due at the end of September 2014. These may change as a result of the project review therefore the content to be covered in the report listed below may not be accurate: Providing Research Infrastructure The RDSI project aims to develop a research infrastructure supporting a wide range of disciplines within a wide institutional and geographic coverage accessible by end users/researchers. The eight Node proposals received for six primary Nodes and two additional Nodes represent an outstanding outcome to the Call for Nodes Proposals process. As a result there is an RDSI Node in every state capital except Darwin as well as Node in Townsville, which is likely to also cover Darwin as part of a Node concentrating on tropical research data. This meets the goals of the project for Geographic Coverage of research infrastructure. Value of new infrastructure by location Provide the value of the new infrastructure including a description of the facilities and equipment purchased by the RDSI funded Nodes. Value of all infrastructures made available under EIF Provide the value of all infrastructures. Performance against EIF principles Principle 1: Projects should address national infrastructure priorities Principle 2: Projects should demonstrate high benefits and effective use of resources Principle 3: Projects should efficiently address infrastructure needs Principle 4: Projects should demonstrate they achieve established standards in implementation and management. Meeting Researcher Needs Provide information that will allow the RDSI project office to report on the number, type and location of applicants and users for each facility, including the percentage of utilisation and availability of collections stored at the RDSI Nodes. This information collection and monitoring activity will assist in measuring user satisfaction in terms of availability and accessibility of the data. Quality of Research Infrastructure Benchmark s against other Australian and overseas like infrastructure, if existent, can only be done after the infrastructure has been implemented and is in use for a period of time. It is anticipated that this benchmark will not be possible until December 2014. Collaborative Infrastructure Provision The RDSI programmes have worked to satisfy this performance indicator, RDSI Node agreement templates between UQ and the Nodes and between the Nodes and Vendors were published. A number of contracts have been signed and data provision is progressing. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 51 of 67

Fostering Collaborative and World-class Research As part of the ReDS programme we anticipate that a roadmap of the number and nature of Australian research collaborations that involve use of EIF infrastructure will be identified, including the type of collaborative activity and parties involved locally and internationally, if applicable. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 52 of 67

APPENDIX A RDSI Risk Register The original project plan identified the broad risks for the RDSI project. The tables below expand on the risks from the project plan. Nomenclature: Likelihood: A- Almost Certain HL - Highly Likely L - Likely P - Possible R - Rare Consequence: C - Catastrophic Mjr - Major Mod - Moderate Min - Minor I - Insignificant Risk rating: E - Extreme H - High M - Medium L - Low Risk Area 1: Financial including sustainability Ref No. Risk description and impact Potential consequences Likelihood rating Consequence rating Risk rating Risk mitigation strategy / Treatment plan Responsibility 1.1 Potential for cost overruns: - Funds allocated to each programme may not be sufficient or realistic depending on demand. - Storage and data centre maintenance costs may go up. - Sub-contractor costs may go up. - Project cost overrun. - Need for project scope reduction. - Need for reduction on project deliverables. - Loss of trust from the sector. - Inability to manage and/or finalise the project. P Mjr H - The Funding Agreement limits total EIF funding, and each Sub- Contract will limit EIF funding available to each Sub-Project. - Monitor closely funds expenditure. - Reallocate funds from programmes if necessary providing the Department agrees. RDSI Board Project Director/Manager 1.2 Potential for funds to not be spent by the end of the project - Return funds to the Departmentthe Department - Potential to invest funds in other project programmes and HL Mjr M - Ensure funds are spend adequately in each programme - Monitor project expenses to ensure all programmes are RDSI Board Project Director/Manager RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 53 of 67

expand programmes - Extend project life which will extend infrastructure sustainability - Interest earned goes into ReDS programme for storage: will have 2 years to allocate funds for storage managed appropriately - Re-allocate funds to programmes as required if approved by the Departmentthe Department - RDSI may be able to fund more than 100PB at today s prices and over 2 years prices may drop hence there is the potential to fund all data and still have storage space left. - Monitor collections/nodes and assist them to ramp up - De-allocation process to be used if collection/node does not perform. - Extend project to support sustainability and provide additional time to spend all ReDS funds. 1.3 Limitations of EIF funds to infrastructure development - Inability of some Nodes to commit as operational costs may be high and not sustainable over long term -Need for project scope reduction. - Re-evaluate programmes priorities and funds allocation. - Reduction on project deliverables. P Mjr M - The RDSI Project Board to ensure that the structures and governance put in place will support the operational use and availability of the infrastructure in consideration of the limitations of the EIF funds. - Utilise other funds (coinvestment) to assist with non- EIF expenditures such as funding the communications role. RDSI Board Project Director/Manager RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 54 of 67

1.4 Inability to attract key coinvestors. - Jeopardise project outcomes. - Loss of reputation for the Department, Lead institution, Project Board and Project Team. P Mjr M - Co-investment will be actively encouraged through the pursuit of open control and access policies operating the infrastructure. - Co-investment is a requirement on Primary Nodes. RDSI Board Project Director/Manager - Manage the ReDS programme to strengthen the on-going role of Nodes regarding the data they hold. 1.5 RDSI project activities do not assist Nodes to become sustainable - The infrastructure created by the RDSI project is not sustained after the project concludes resulting in the loss of shared data storage capability. P Mjr (some Nodes) C (all Nodes) M (some Nodes) C (all Nodes) - Encourage Node's RDSI funded facilities can be and where possible are constructed as an element of larger research data infrastructures. - Ensure Dash connects Nodes to institutions as well as other Nodes at very high speeds in a combined data movement fabric. - Note that not all Nodes must satisfy all requirements for RDSI to succeed. Project Director Project Manager RDSI Board RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 55 of 67

1.6 Sustainability of non-node based Project elements - Failure of any of the project programmes elements such as DaSh and AAs P Mjr M - The Project Board will work with stakeholders and Sub- Project participants to seek solutions to contribute to the sustainability of the Project elements during the life of the Project and for AAs beyond the life of the Project. RDSI Board Project Team Stakeholders (AAs) 1.7 Inability to construct an attractive vendor panel to Nodes - Inability to attract the most value for money vendor panel. P Mod M - The RDSI project will work with CAUDIT and other stakeholders to leverage existing expertise in the construction of vendor panels - CAUDIT will work with the project to assist in the construction of the panel - consultation with vendors and community will be sought Project Team Stakeholders CAUDIT 1.8 Vendors currently used by the sector are not on the vendor panel causing a problem for Nodes - Inability to include currently used vendors in the panel P Mod M - The RDSI project is aware of the major established vendors and will take this into account when negotiating the panel - Leverage CAUDIT's existing knowledge of the sector vendor use - Seek vendor consultation on the process to be used to form the vendor panel to ensure vendors are included - Inclusion on the vendor panel will be an on-going activity. Project Team CAUDIT RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 56 of 67

1.9 Interest rate variability is a risk to overall funding Interest rate could impact: - project funds may earn more interest than predicted. - Ability to extend the amount of storage funded by the project. - Ability to extend the length of the project to ensure expenditure of ReDS funds and coverage of a larger number of collections. - Project cost overrun. - Need for project re-scope. - Reduction on project deliverables. - Inability to finalise the project. HL Mjr M - The interest earned is identified as an additional source of funding for the ReDS programme rather than as a critical component of project funding. - Extend the project lifetime to allow for greater storage allocation due to interest earned and reduction in storage prices over the lifetime of the project. - Reallocation of interest earned to other project programmes if needed may be considered. - Observe interest rate fluctuation and employ risk mitigation measures if there is a large interest rate fluctuation that impacts the project negatively. RDSI Board Project Team 1.10 Inability of some Nodes to attract collections - Some Nodes may not be perceived as sustainable in the long term. P Min L - Project to ensure at least some Nodes is supported and monitored to increase their chances of attracting collections of significance and large volumes of collections. - Ensure Node and collection owners are aware of each other to increase the Node's sustainability in the long term. RDSI Board Project Team RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 57 of 67

Risk Area 2: Suitability for Purpose Ref No. Risk description and impact Potential consequences Likelihood rating Consequence rating Risk rating Risk mitigation strategy / Treatment plan Responsibility 2.1 Adequacy of access arrangements - DaSh infrastructure fails to deliver adequate access options P Mjr M - access policies and arrangements will be determined with sector consultation and modelled on those already in use to support data collections within the research sector. - Input from vendors in many aspects of DaSh themes will be sought. - Build access requirements on AAF development Project Team 2.2 Nodes not selected in time - Cannot get the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and decisions made in time P Mjr M - Persuade the Department to select Nodes - Assist potential Nodes to adhere to the NoDe programme and hence have a chance to be selected by the IAP, Board and the Department. the Department RDSI Board Project Manager/Director 2.3 Adequacy of data movement - Network is not fast enough to support data movement - Data movement tools are inadequate P Mjr M - Ensure network players are engaged and reach agreement - Monitor negotiations and progress Project Manager/Director RDSI Board Project Team RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 58 of 67

2.4 Nodes reject collections - Collections of significance will not be accessible P Mjr M - Ensure Nodes are strongly encouraged to accept collections via the ReDS programme. - Contractual arrangements will be in place to minimise this risk. - Monitor collection allocation progress closely Project Manager/Director RDSI Board Project Team - Encourage Nodes to become AAs. 2.5 Incomplete agreement between TAC and project on DaSh technical architecture - Non-delivery of elements of DaSh causing low accessibility of data, project delays and possibly failure L Mjr M - Involve TAC early on the project and ensure Nodes understand the DaSh proposal. - Facilitate technical discussions and stage DaSh to identify functional elements. Project Manager/Director RDSI Board Project Team Stakeholders (Nodes) 2.6 Incomplete implementation of DaSh architecture - Nodes fail to implement DaSh. - Project fails to negotiate an agreed approach with the majority of Nodes. P Mjr M - Encourage Nodes to agree on a reasonable architecture. - If some Nodes do not implement the DaSh architecture they'll not receive further ReDS funds. Project Manager/Director RDSI Board Project Team Stakeholders (Nodes) 2.7 DaShNet is not adequately implemented for all Nodes - Low ingest rate causing project delays - Inability to replicate between some Nodes P Mjr M - Ensure a fast network will operate between Nodes. - Contractual arrangements should be in place to support this outcome. Project Manager/Director RDSI Board Project Team RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 59 of 67

2.8 Data holders may consider ReDS allocations as free storage for use at their discretion. - The intended purpose of the storage is not met due to ineffective data storage and management practices P Min L - Reinforce performance expectations and metrics Project Manager/Director RDSI Board Project Team 2.9 Data owners might minimise their engagement because of uncertainty about longevity of the project - Fewer collections are registered and stored, and funding is underspent P Mod M - Promote relationship between data owner and Node(s) as enduring Project Manager/Director RDSI Board Project Team 2.10 Location of collections may become political, with RDSI only willing to fund a reasonable number of copies for holding purposes - Stakeholders may be dissatisfied with the limits of reasonable storage P Mod M - Discuss with data owner, offer options for extra services by Nodes, and allow data owner to prioritise distribution of funding for a ReDS allocation amongst Nodes Project Manager/Director RDSI Board Project Team Risk Area 3: Project management Ref No. Risk description and impact Potential consequences Likelihood rating Consequence rating Risk rating Risk mitigation strategy / Treatment plan Responsibility 3.1 Adequacy of Project leadership and management - Project delivery failure P C H - Ensure experienced personnel are employed. - Ensure project leadership is adequate. - Ensure project team brings any issues to the project Director/Manager's attention for mitigation. - Ensure project team meets regularly. RDSI Board/the Department RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 60 of 67

- Ensure steps to increase engagement with governance, technical and expert advisory structures are in place - Engage Nodes in technical architecture implementation as soon as practicable. 3.2 Delays in programmes implementation - Reduced number of deliverables. - Project overrun - Project failure - Loss of sector trust in the project P Mjr M - Employ key personnel with relevant seniority and experience to work under the direction of the Project Director and within the policies of the University of Queensland. - Experienced and dedicated personnel will be deployed as needed to ensure sufficient attention and effort is available to progress the Project programmes in a timely manner. - Develop staged delivery milestones for all programmes. - Review programmes regularly Project Manager/Director RDSI Board Project Team - Ensure delays are monitored and problems escalated in a timely manner. - Ensure project implementation deploys standardised and proven technologies as much as possible, which will limit the need to test solutions and the danger of project overruns. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 61 of 67

- Ensure project team brings any issues to the project Director/Manager's attention for mitigation. - Monitor programmes to avoid and/or address any delays. 3.3 Lack of adequate accommodation for project staff - May impact in staff productivity P Mod M - Ensure appropriate accommodation and resources are available to staff. Project Director 3.4 Loss of resources - Staff may leave the project - Inability to source experienced staff replacements in the short lifetime of the project P Mjr H - Ensure staff are engaged in the project - Ensure there are alternative options for replacement with experienced staff - Monitor staff morale levels - Monitor staff burnout Project Manager/Director 3.5 Adequacy of sub-contracting arrangements - Potential for participant organisations to decline participation - Potential for the Department to reject Nodes P Mjr M - The University of Queensland will ensure appropriate project management methodologies and policies are applied to the Project. - Maintain an open dialogue with stakeholders. - Provide business information to legal to facilitate contract negotiations. Project Manager/Director RDSI Board RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 62 of 67

3.6 NRN project does not agree with the definition of DaShNet - DaShNet wouldn't be delivered and therefore movement of data and replication between Nodes would be extremely slow and in some cases impossible. P Mod M - Engage fully with NRN SC to ensure alignment between DaShNet and NRN - NRN to assign implementation of DaShNet to RDSI project - Monitor discussion and implementation progress Project Director 3.7 Inability to develop DaShNet at high speed - Data movement and replication between some Nodes will be impacted. P Mod M - Actively engage in a technical dialogue with AARNet to identify the element to implement a high speed network. - Monitor discussions and implementation progress Project Director/Manager 3.8 AARNet can't deliver the network upgrades within agreed timeframes - DaShNet wouldn't be delivered and therefore movement of data and replication would not be possible P Mod M - Actively engage in a technical dialogue with AARNet - monitor discussion and implementation progress Project Director/Manager 3.9 Inability to deliver RDSIPortal and other DaSh infrastructure tools defined in the DaSh themes - Impact project progress and delivery. - No data movement or collaboration would be established. P Mod M - Actively engage stakeholders to support Dash architecture development - Monitor discussion and implementation progress - Form TAC with participation from Nodes and key stakeholders. Project Director/Manager Dash tech architect 3.10 Inability to discover collections - Collections are difficult to discover P Mod M - Ensure dialogue with ANDS is consistent and proactive - Engage with researchers to discover collections ReDS programme RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 63 of 67

- Monitor discussions and data collections discovery progress 3.11 Misuse of published collection performance data - Loss of project credibility. P Mod M - Publish collection methodology and disclaimers for appropriate use ReDS programme 3.12 Misuse of published information in RDSI Portal - Loss of project credibility. P Mod M - Publish methodology and disclaimers for appropriate use Project team RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 64 of 67

APPENDIX B Terms of Reference and Operations B.1. Membership The Project Board comprises an Independent Chair, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Queensland or nominee, and up to seven other members. Current RDSI Board members are listed at the RDSI Board Members page. Where board members need to be replaced due to other commitments or by request of the majority of the Board or the Department new members will be agreed by the Department. Alternate members are not permitted by this Terms of Reference. The RDSI Board Chair was appointed by the Department to preside over meetings of RDSI Board and to act in an advisory capacity to the Department, RDSI Project Director and the other Board members. The chair also represents the RDSI Project at AeRIC meetings and receives a modest a remuneration to carry out these duties. The Board will: provide strategic guidance to the University of Queensland and to the Project Director; monitor the overall strategic direction of the Project; receive and approve Annual Reports and the Final Report on Project performance; approve Annual Business Plans, which include implementation milestones and budget allocations; receive, amend, approve or reject recommendations from the Resource Allocation Panel and the Infrastructure Advisory Panel; make recommendations on the Nodes to be created to the University of Queensland and the arrangements that should be put in place for those Nodes; endorse the appointment process and the appointment of any replacement Project Director, noting that the nominated candidate must be found acceptable by the University of Queensland and the Department; advise and assist the University of Queensland in the management of project risk; oversee the communication plan and related activities of the Project; provide other advice and input as required; and The appointment of the RDSI Project Board Chair and Project Board members is for the period of the Project. All Project Board members will be appointed for their outstanding abilities to guide the Project. They will be senior people able to take a broad, national, collaborative perspective and will include persons with previous experience in one or more of the following areas and will collectively cover all of the areas: corporate governance; financial/business management; research and development activities; Information and Communications Technologies; international and national activities providing eresearch infrastructure and services; computational sciences; and RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 65 of 67

data intensive research. B.2. Meetings Meeting frequency is expected to be no greater than three face to face meetings per year with additional meetings called if necessary. Meetings can be convened in face to face however members have the option to attend in person or via teleconference. At the end of each Board meeting the date for the next meeting will be discussed. It is expected that a quorum of majority of the members will attend any given Board meeting or out of session decision. The Chair and UQ delegate are expected to attend all meetings. The Board can be asked to make decisions via email. In this circumstance the RDSI Chair will direct the Project Director to coordinate and collate responses from the Board members and share the outcome. It is expected that decisions be made with majority of votes. In the event of an equality of votes on any decision the Independent Chair will have a casting vote. The Independent Chair of the RDSI Project Board will not have a deliberative vote. The Project Director and Project Manager will attend Project Board meetings and meetings of the RDSI Infrastructure Advisory Panel and the Resource Allocation Panel in an ex-officio capacity and will not vote. At all Board meetings there will be an item to allow any member to declare a conflict of interest. In the case of a conflict of interest the Board member will abstain from voting. The executive officer will take notes of the Board meeting and will circulate action items to the Board as appropriate. Resolutions of the RDSI Project Board on significant risks to meeting objectives of the Project will be incorporated in Reports to the Department. Where the University of Queensland considers that a decision of the RDSI Project Board is contrary to the University's obligations under the Funding Agreement, and where this cannot be resolved within the established Terms of Reference and Procedures of the RDSI Project Board, the University shall convene a meeting with the Department Delegate to clarify the requirements of the Funding Agreement and resolve the issue. B.3 Expenses Positions on the Project Board are honorary and no remuneration or sitting fees will be paid, with the exception of the Chair at a rate determined by the University of Queensland as approved by Julia Evans on 11 February 2011. The RDSI project is allowed to cover reasonable travel expenses for the Board members and members of sub-committees to attend meetings, including economy airfares and accommodation if necessary. RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 66 of 67

APPENDIX C Allocation Proposal Form NODE: Allocation ID: Part A Proposed data holding and its source Assessment against ReDS Guidelines Rationale for first instance, including a statement of interest by the Node Rationale for class(es) of storage for first the instance Rationale for the second instance (if proposed) including its extent, location and storage class(es) Summary of the activities to be undertaken to achieve ingest and meet accessibility requirements Expected completion date (all milestones met) <Taken from request form> <Evaluation of Allocation Committee> <Comment by Allocation Committee, Node staff, or taken from form> <Comment by Allocation Committee, Node staff, or taken from form> <Comment by Allocation Committee, Node staff, or taken from form> <Comment by Node staff> <This is not binding> Part B Unit costs Class _ Class _ Class _ Class _ Cost/TB ($) _ ($) _ ($) _ ($) _ ($) Ingest Milestone (by $ value) Instance A (location) Instance B (location) Indicative Class _ Class _ Class _ Class _ Class _ Class _ Date 100 % _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (Date) (25%) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (Date) (50%) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (Date) (75%) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (TB) _ (Date) Milestones Status Indicative Date Discovery metadata Accessibility <A specific collection record in Research Data Australia> <Accessibility meets one of a range of generic statements covering acceptable ReDS use cases> _ (Date) _ (Date) APPROVALS Node Allocation Panel Chair Signature: Date: RDSI Node Contract Delegate Signature: Date: RDSI ABP 2014-2015 Approved by the Department of Education Page 67 of 67