AeRO develops new resource for researchers

AeRO Report by Brett Rosolen, AARNet’s eResearch Technical Manager

In late 2011 the various state-based eResearch organisations began discussions towards a more cooperative approach for the advancement of eResearch in Australia. The group became known as the Australian eResearch Organisations (AeRO) and has expanded to include national service providers, including AARNet as an active member.

Throughout 2012 AARNet participated in several National AeRO Forums convened to broadly discuss the activities and priorities for best serving the national research community.

Eight key areas were identified, and work has commenced on two of the top priorities:

• to catalogue the range of services on offer and
• to ensure a robust support structure for those that use them.

The Australian Service Catalog Working Group and the Australian User Support Working Group were formed to further these initiatives.

Commencing this year, the work of these two groups has been formalised into a single project for a cohesive ICT support structure with the aim of helping researchers find services and navigate seamlessly through the tiers of support that are distributed across many providers.

AeRO members have funded the project initially for the period of one year and a project manager has been appointed to drive the ongoing collaboration.

The next identified priority is to collect and/or create resources to fill skills gaps in the eResearch sector – the focus of the newly formed Skills Development and Training Working Group.

More information can be found at: http://www.aero.edu.au