Strategic Directions 2022‑2025

The Alliance’s strategic plan for 2022-2025 guides our work and ensures that everything we do is connected to our vision, mission and the commitments we’ve made to the research community. The strategic plan has been presented, reviewed, and approved by the Alliance’s Researcher Council, Board of Directors, and Member organizations.

Ensuring we respond to the everchanging needs of Canadian researchers.

Building on the findings from current state assessments for RDM, RS and ARC, and a researcher-focused needs assessment, the Alliance’s executive team conducted an extensive consultation with the Alliance’s Board of Directors and key stakeholders within the DRI community to develop this Strategic Plan for the upcoming three years.

The strategic directions presented in this plan embody the DRI priorities of Canadian researchers as heard in the Needs Assessment and Current State reports. We are committed to maintaining such researcher-centricity through continuous consultations, and the guidance and support of our Researcher Council, a body representing the voice of researchers within the Alliance. This approach will ensure we respond to the everchanging needs of Canadian researchers, and provide them with the digital tools and services they need in the years to come.

Our approach to deliver on the activities presented here will remain true to the collaborative essence of the Alliance. The work ahead will build on the efforts of the broader DRI community, and its success will rely on the engagement and participation of many stakeholders, including Innovation, Scientific and Economic Development Canada, the ARC Regions, National Host Sites, CANARIE, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and the Compute Canada Federation members, among others.

Our Journey

The work ahead will build on feedback of the broader DRI community. In preparation for our strategic plan we embarked on extensive consultations to ensure our activities respond to the needs of Canadian researchers, and are aligned with the efforts of our partners.

Their reports can be found here: https://alliancecan.ca/en/about/key-documents

The assessment can be found here: https://alliancecan.ca/sites/default/files/2022-03/needsassessment_alliance_20220126.pdf

Understanding the current state of DRI

The Canadian DRI has been historically complex and has evolved somewhat organically. To understand the gaps in the DRI service provision we consulted both researchers and service providers. These efforts included:

→ Three working groups to assess the current state of Research Data Management (RDM), Research Software (RS) and Advanced Research Computing (ARC). Their reports can be found here.

→ A researcher Needs Assessment that included position papers contributed by the community, a national survey and virtual town halls. The assessment can be found here.

→ An international landscape analysis of DRI organizations, technological advancements and best practices in DRI service provision.

Our Journey

The work ahead will build on feedback of the broader DRI community. In preparation for our strategic plan we embarked on extensive consultations to ensure our activities respond to the needs of Canadian researchers, and are aligned with the efforts of our partners.

Their reports can be found here: https://alliancecan.ca/en/about/key-documents

The assessment can be found here: https://alliancecan.ca/sites/default/files/2022-03/needsassessment_alliance_20220126.pdf

Developing organizational culture

We collected perspectives and viewpoints to shape our goals and aspirations to guide us as we grow as an organization. Our guiding principles, vision, and mission define us as an organization, and how we want to interact with the DRI community as we deliver services to Canadian researchers. We have achieved this through several efforts:

→ Interviews with our Board of Directors and DRI partners to develop our mission and vision.

→ Workshops with our DRI partners, Researcher Council, and Board of Directors to design service-based DRI Investment strategies.

Our Journey

The work ahead will build on feedback of the broader DRI community. In preparation for our strategic plan we embarked on extensive consultations to ensure our activities respond to the needs of Canadian researchers, and are aligned with the efforts of our partners.

Their reports can be found here: https://alliancecan.ca/en/about/key-documents

The assessment can be found here: https://alliancecan.ca/sites/default/files/2022-03/needsassessment_alliance_20220126.pdf

Building our action plan

The feedback collected through the various consultation efforts directly informed this strategic plan. All this information was organized, synthesized, and grouped into objectives and initiatives along themes and topics. The objectives and initiatives were:

→ Reviewed and validated internally, and with the support of working groups.

→ Prioritized with Alliance Leadership and our Board of Directors.

→ Mapped into a multi-year roadmap focused on stabilizing, expanding and scaling-up our DRI services.

1

Provide quality service to all researchers

The needs of the Canadian research community are as diverse as they are complex. Understanding this nuance and acknowledging the growing reliance of researchers on DRI for their research workflows, the Alliance is committed to supporting all researchers in Canada and to meet their DRI needs with consistent and high-quality service, regardless of their disciplines, geographic region or institutional affiliation. The tools and services available to researchers, and how to access them is core to an equitable DRI strategy.

The availability of these tools and services will be complemented by a robust program of on-going training for researchers that builds their skills in DRI, from introductory to specialized tools and techniques that welcome unique disciplinary needs. Nonetheless, such a researcher-centered approach cannot be achieved without national and international partnerships. The Alliance will work closely with peer organizations, academic institutions, and the broader research community to ensure its offering of services truly responds to the evolving needs of its users.


Researcher Segments

→ The Alliance will offer a baseline of consistent, high-quality service delivery that is standardized to meet researchers’ DRI needs, and that is inclusive of underserved communities. Further customization will be made possible in the future to strive to meet the differentiated needs of specific research communities.

 

Services

→ The Alliance will provide a focused suite of services with broad applicability at a pan-Canadian scale, while working closely with partners to ensure that the breadth of DRI needs are addressed.

 

Researcher Experience

→ The Alliance will enable a researcher-centric DRI experience with the goal of researchers knowing what is available and how to access services efficiently, while ensuring cohesiveness between RS, RDM and ARC.

2

Optimize organizational structure and enhance capacity

As the Alliance establishes itself as a national organization, it will be imperative to implement an organizational structure that effectively supports a centralized delivery of core DRI capabilities, as well as the coordination of national efforts and service provision. Such a model ensures that researchers can always find the right support, be it through in-house offerings or those of DRI partners.

This organizational structure reconciles the need for coordinating a consistent baseline of service delivery with the sourcing of capabilities internally as well as via external partners. Most importantly, this structure fully reflects the organization’s vision and mission. The development and retention of professional support personnel is critical to Canadian research and innovation.


Organizational Structure

→ The Alliance will ensure the effective delivery of services to the researcher community by delivering select capabilities and engaging in the coordination of other capabilities through pan-Canadian, regional and local partners.

Headshot of a person

“We collect billions of particle collisions per second and select the most interesting ones. The collision data collection is extremely large and is distributed to centres around the world, including some in Canada. […] These computing resources in Canada are a key contribution to international projects. They are critical to our research and they help contribute to Canada’s reputation abroad.”

Dr. Randall Sobie
University of Victoria

3

Working together for an integrated DRI landscape

As the Alliance identifies which capabilities and services will be developed and provided internally or through partners, it will also define the scope of national, regional and local services. Therefore, in collaboration with partners, it will be essential to identify roles and responsibilities to minimize overlapping services and mandates. This is especially important given the Alliance’s efforts to streamline processes and reduce the administrative burden on researchers. Beyond its efforts to coalesce an integrated national DRI service provision, the Alliance will adopt a proactive approach to broker both public and private sector partnerships for the benefit of Canadian researchers and Canadian society at large.


Resources

→ The Alliance will develop select capabilities internally while leveraging partners to source some ancillary capabilities externally. The Alliance will provide equitable access to DRI resources, ensuring a balance between national research priorities and individual researcher needs.

 

Partners

→ The Alliance will provide a focused suite of services with broad applicability at a pan-Canadian scale, while working closely with partners to ensure that the breadth of DRI needs are addressed.

4

Maximize public investments to accelerate innovation

The Alliance is part of the Government of Canada’s national DRI strategy. As such, it will steward the Government’s contribution based on established target service levels, prioritizing full funding of pan-Canadian services and cost-sharing with provinces and territories for regional provision.


Revenue Model

→ The Alliance will implement a mixed-source not-for-profit model that will include public funding streams and additional complementary funding including innovative partnerships, membership fees, in-kind contributions, private sponsorships, and others.

 

Funding Model

→ The Alliance will steward the Federal Government’s contribution based on desired target service levels, prioritizing full funding of pan-Canadian services and cost-sharing with provinces and territories for regional services.

Person in white shirt

“Increasingly, making manuscripts searchable is going to change the way we understand reception history. […] It’s important to fund digital projects in the humanities as 45% of them end up being abandoned within 10 years of being launched. The humanities face a research data management crisis.”

Dr. Laura Estill
St. Francis Xavier University

Explore our path forward

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