The University’s research generates increasingly large volumes of data and the need to know where and how we store and publish all this research data increases too. Many researchers have raised the need for a common strategy for the storage, sharing and security of research data. The University has a significant IT-deficit when it comes to support in these important issues that we need to address. That is why a large initiative for university-wide support is underway - the E-infrastructure project. The project is to build a solution for research data, including storage, that will be made available free of charge for researchers at Lund University. But simply providing storage space is not enough!
The solution will not only be offered free of charge, it will also meet the organisation’s requirement for the fair and transparent handling of data.
E-infrastructure is not just about technology and storage though. We are striving to create a “clear point of entry” to research support, where you, as a researcher, are guided to the services, support and expert functions that exist at the University. We will not be building something new, but instead we will build a network of collaboration and exploit the extensive expertise that is already in place, for example in our libraries, within IT, in data protection and in information security. Being aware of everything is a complex task and each researcher should not be expected to navigate these challenges on their own.
That is why the establishment of the E-infrastructure project will be seriously getting underway this autumn. Part of the work will be concerned with hardware and software for the storage and sharing of research data. This is a long-term task, and it will take time to reach our goal of offering this service to everyone, for all data. But we have made a start!
Now let’s go for it!
/Viktor Öwall, pro vice-chancellor
