Government data featured in big weekend at Intersect
Intersect hosted 60 developers in its office over the weekend 31 May – 2 June as part of the first national GovHack. Nationally the competition involved over 1000 participants, 130 competition entries and the $170,000 in prize money.
Intersect, Apps for NSW, the NSW Department of Trade and Investment and the Dictionary of Sydney offered 8 prizes including “Greatest Potential for Research Impact”, “Best use of NSW data” and an Intersect Internship
“Intersect was delighted to sponsor and host this event” said Intersect CEO Dr Ian Gibson. “We are also thrilled that GovHack Sydney is aligned with Vivid Sydney: LIGHT, MUSIC & IDEAS”.
Event coordinator Pia Waugh, said, “With over 700 hackers undertaking over 10,000 hours of development, this is by far Australia’s largest partner program for government research and development”.
The event has proven itself to be more than a competition. It is now a serious engagement opportunity for government and citizens alike. Multiple models of funding were used for prizes, and different types of prizes include mentorship, internships and entrepreneurial prizes.
Projects from GovHack 2013 are online at http://hackerspace.govhack.org/. Anyone can register on the HackerSpace to vote for their favourite hack(s).
Winners were announced on Thursday 6 June via live stream available on www.govhack.org.
Intersect is planning a local prize giving ceremony, details TBA.
Research data storage
The Intersect RDSI node is now accepting nominations of research data collections for storage on the node. A circular process will be used by the Storage Allocation Committee to assess applications with face to face meetings held quarterly. This enables a fast turn around. The application form can be found here.
For more information, see http://www.intersect.org.au/data-storage
The Storage Allocation Committee held its second meeting on May 27th. 19 applications for ReDS funded storage were assessed and 17 were approved.
Intersect’s eResearch Analysts have been working with the universities on their internal processes and on identifying collections. The eResearch Analysts have been concentrating on identifying collections from individual research projects. While we continue to add such collections to our pipeline, we have now recognised the value in identifying collections on a much larger scale. Of particular importance is identifying research data collections that comprise “the canon” of research disciplines. That is, research data collections that support a significant proportion of the research within that discipline.
Another important aspect is identifying collections for which the custodian is outside the membership of Intersect. That is, rather than identifying research data for which researchers want storage, to identify research data to which researchers want access.
The rollout of the RDSI infrastructure for the Intersect node is on track for August of this year.
RICS DCCEE project
Intersect has delivered a mobile web app and web site that assists commercial tenants manage their energy costs and consumption. Uninformed decisions when considering alternative tenancies can prove very costly over the medium to long term. The app helps tenants calculate their current energy costs and estimate potential energy costs in alternative tenancies. Intersect has delivered:
– A Best Practice Guide (and Quick Start Guide) for SME tenants leasing commercial space
– A mobile web application (Android and iPhone) whose primary function is the ability for tenants to compare and calculate their likely energy costs based on a range of variables, including the energy efficiency of the space they lease.
– A complimentary web site that hosts the guidance notes and mobile applications
NSW Manager for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Nick Hudson said, “we see this app will have a big impact….
Training
ANDS/Intersect Research Data Management Roundtable #3: Specialist Requirements 12 July 2013, at Intersect Australia L12 Lumley House, 309 Kent Street, Sydney CBD (map)
Enable professionals from the Research Office, Library and IT in ANDS partner organisations in NSW to discuss what data curation means from policy, service and infrastructure perspectives. The group will explore challenges and issues related to research data management.
For more information and registration please contact:
Ingrid Mason, eResearch Data Analyst
Email: ingrid.mason@ands.org.au
Phone: 02 8079 2559
Introduction to Unix & HPC:
- at Intersect Boardroom July 3-4
- at UTS July 9 – 10
- at Intersect Boardroom July 31-August 1
Google Fusion Tables:
- at Intersect Boardroom June 26
- at Intersect Boardroom July 10
- at UTS July 11
Google Refine
- at Intersect Boardroom June 26
- at Intersect Boardroom July 10
For more information, see http://www.intersect.org.au/training
Intersect Review
The Intersect Review is now underway. The TOR of the review can be found at http://www.intersect.org.au/reports Each of Intersect’s members has been formally approached through the office of the D/PVCR for input into the review.
Events
eResearch Australasia conference CfP now closes Sunday 16 June.
Intersect invites NSW researchers to consider sharing their experience, expertise and findings via presentations and workshops at the eResearch Australasia conference. The Call for Participation now closes 16 June 2013. This year’s conference runs 20 – 25 October 2013 in Brisbane, more details here
New staff
Nasreen Sharique has joined the Intersect team as a casual tester. Nasreen holds a Bachelors of Science and is currently a final year student of Masters Of Information Technology at UNSW.
Hiring
We are currently recruiting for the following positions:
Storage Infrastructure Specialist to join our infrastructure team on a permanent basis. Read more.
Data Infrastructure Specialist to assist researchers move their research data from its current location to the RDSI, including data migration, data modelling, systems design and liaising with other nodes of the RDSI. Read more.
