Digital research infrastructure

Digital research infrastructure allows us to work with data and computation efficiently and securely across all research and innovation challenges.

The building blocks of the digital research infrastructure system include:

large-scale compute facilities, including high-throughput, high-performance, and cloud computing
data storage facilities, repositories, stewardship and security
software and shared code libraries
mechanisms for access, such as networks and user authentication systems
people: the users, and the experts who develop and maintain these powerful resources

UKRI’s vision for digital research infrastructure

Our vision is a coherent state-of-the-art national digital research infrastructure that will seamlessly connect researchers, policymakers and innovators to the computers, data, tools, techniques and skills that underpin the most ambitious and creative research.

Our vision for a national digital research infrastructure is guided by the following principles.

We will:

be driven by the ambition of our diverse communities
provide a federated system (where diverse systems work together in an efficient and secure manner) of digital research infrastructure that includes both breadth and depth of capabilities and skills
build a digital research infrastructure to stimulate breakthroughs and accelerate innovation
accelerate productivity by enabling secure and easy access through common access procedures and authorisation technologies
understand the environmental impacts of our investments and make changes to improve our sustainability that contribute to the UK’s commitment to net zero
work with partners to maximise the value from our investments
think and plan long-term to develop the UKRI’s digital research infrastructure in the context of other related government investments and strategies

Our activities will focus on five inter-related thematic areas.

Data infrastructure

We will provide the data storage and data services infrastructure, and the policies needed to extract maximum value from all forms of datasets, including from:

science
medicine
arts and humanities
the environment
society

Large-scale computing

Our ambition is to:

provide a world-class large-scale compute infrastructure to enable the large-scale deployment of artificial intelligence (AI)
push the frontiers of data-intensive research through modelling, simulation and analysis

Secure services and tools for sensitive data

We will work with partners to provide highly secure data services for sensitive data, for example Trusted Research Environments (TREs) where researchers can appropriately access and analyse sensitive data without the data leaving the secure environment. Examples of sensitive data include personally identifiable or commercial data.

We will also deliver the appropriate tools for researchers, innovators and decision-makers to:

accelerate public benefit
maintain public trust in research using sensitive data

Skills and career pathways

We will invest in people to widen the breadth and depth of skills needed for:

the new digital research infrastructure
the adoption of modern digital techniques
the development of career paths for digital research infrastructure professionals that are rewarding, sustainable and flexible

Foundational tools, techniques and practices

To support this we will:

provide the underpinning network and administrative infrastructure
facilitate the uptake of good practices and knowledge transfer
support the development and maintenance of software that is required to deliver the national digital research infrastructure

Progress for the programme

Here are some examples of work happening in the first phase:

scoping studies to inform the evolution of existing infrastructure, supporting new communities of practice
the development of a net zero data roadmap
the launch of the Data and Analytics Research Environments programme (DARE UK), which will inform the next generation of trusted research environments
assessment of large-scale computing and data infrastructure needs across the breadth of UKRI’s research communities

This work is supported by the independent Advisory Group for Digital Infrastructure which provides advice for the programme and to the UKRI executive.

Further information

Ask a question about DRI

Email: dri@ukri.org

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Last updated: 19 July 2024