It Takes a Campus: building cross-campus collaborations to support research computing and data needs

As research generates greater volumes of data, the data management and storage solutions historically relied upon by researchers can prove inadequate. Simultaneously, the infrastructure required to meet the demands of data management – storage, transfer, analysis, visualization – at scale often involve skill sets outside those held by many traditional data services professionals. Given finite bandwidth for staff retraining, one strategy that institutions are employing to address these accelerating needs is to foster connections and collaboration with the campus information technology and research computing professionals charged with building and maintaining this infrastructure.

While institutions explore these partnerships, there has been a concurrent proliferation of organizations focused on supporting the development and professionalization of the Research Computing and Data (RCD) field. Groups like the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC) and EDUCAUSE Research Computing and Data Community Group take a broad view of RCD, addressing topics ranging from containerization and the cloud, to data management and movement, to training and education for users, including deep and sustained engagement to help researchers achieve their goals ("research facilitation"). Originating in the operational needs of high performance computing, these communities have gradually expanded their reach into libraries, acknowledging the interdependent nature of support for research computing and data management and the unique expertise that data services professionals contribute.

This panel will bring together in conversation four institutions that have drawn inspiration from groups like CaRCC to develop cross-campus models designed to meet changing RCD needs. The University of California, Berkeley, North Carolina State University, and Princeton have developed services that leverage a range of RCD skills to help researchers navigate increasingly complicated technological and regulatory landscapes, and will share their experiences with service development, challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned. The conversation will be moderated by Duke University, which has recently begun its own RCD initiative.