A First Macro View of Australian Retained Research Data

 A small group of research intensive universities have been working over the last five years to better understand the characteristics of a more effective research data culture - https://www.researchdataculture.org.

A research data culture is sought that encompasses the ambitions of Preservation, Sharing and Reuse operating within real world constraints related to Resourcing, Sensitivity and End-of-life.

Over the years, while those discussions alluded to the challenges posed by an ever growing data volume, a measure of what that volume might be across those institutions and across the research sector, was unknown.

This report presents a first attempt to answer a simple but fundamental question:

What is the volume of unique data managed by Australian research sector institutions for the purpose of future access?