Author
Julie Watson (Ministry of Research Science and Technology (MoRST), New Zealand)
Abstract
The Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN) went live in 2006. A relatively small amount of capability development funding was assigned by the New Zealand Government to assist New Zealand's researchers taking advantage of the capacity of KAREN. Little acknowledgement was given to the 'ecosystem' underpinning eresearch infrastructure and the coordinated approach needed to support strategic science areas - let alone the long tail of researchers in transition.
New Zealand is now catching up in tightened economic circumstances - can we afford to take a project by project approach to eresearch infrastructure in New Zealand? This presentation will illustrate New Zealand's current framework for eresearch development in a world with no boundaries.
About the speaker
Julie Watson spent 2006 to 2008 with the Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand (REANNZ) as Communities Manager. She was involved in the launch of the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN) in August 2006 with New Zealand universities, Crown research institutes and the National Library as core members. Julie then set about the task of developing communities for KAREN uptake across the research sector with the aid of a $5 million government fund for capability building. Her initial work focused on what KAREN was - introducing advanced networking technology to a community whose primary interests lay in their specific areas of research. Julie organised the first New Zealand eResearch conference in 2007, KAREN Communities for Collaboration, and the Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN) Conference in Queenstown in 2008. It became "slowly" apparent to Julie that eResearch was more than about the pipe so when the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST) eResearch Advisor position came available in December 2008, Julie took the position to develop policy for a coordinated approach to eResearch in New Zealand.
Julie has a background in science and arts - with the most significant influence on her career to date being LIFE.