AHRC Policy and Engagement Fellowship in Digital Research Infrastructure
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Department Name: School of Advanced Study
Abstract
This project will focus on the development of a technical specification and architecture of a federated research infrastructure of Arts and Humanities in order to enhance national digital research capability of the Arts and Humanities research community. By working closely with stakeholders and the UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure Committee, this project will explore and define the design and development requirements of a robust data services and interlinked digital repositories ecosystem that will ensure integration, connectivity, discoverability, interoperability and access for our cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral datasets. The project will also focus on the skills development aspect of the research community, through the planning of a national digital skills programme for the Arts and Humanities.
Publications
Anna-Maria Sichani
(2022)
The Bloomsbury Handbook to the Digital Humanities
Sichani AM
(2023)
iDAH Research Software Engineering (RSE) Steering Group Working Paper
Winters J
(2023)
The role of digital humanities in an interdisciplinary research project
in Science Museum Group Journal
Anna-Maria Sichani
(2023)
Report on the AHRC Digital/ Software Requirements Survey 2021: Where is Investment Needed?
Rees A
(2023)
Surfacing multiple perspectives on keywords for the Congruence Engine; embracing multiplicity, interdisciplinarity, and mutual learning
in Science Museum Group Journal
Related Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Award Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AH/W011220/1 | 01/01/2022 | 30/03/2022 | £55,065 | ||
| AH/W011220/2 | Transfer | AH/W011220/1 | 31/03/2022 | 30/08/2022 | £14,386 |
| Description | Never before has research and innovation in Arts and Humanities been so dependent on digital infrastructure, on the capacity of connectivity, security, access management, data reuse and analysis. In a parallel vein, the increasing availability of high quality linked data and the opportunities for data driven innovation in Arts and Humanities have never been greater. The Infrastructure for Digital Innovation and Curation in Arts and Humanities (iDAH) programme is an AHRC DRI investment aiming to develop a national, distributed infrastructure that will transform UK innovation and capacity for excellence in digitally enabled, data-driven research and innovation within the arts and humanities and beyond. It will bring together provision, integrate, develop and foster take-up of tools, digital services, resources and training to support Arts and Humanities researchers, while ensuring strategic alignment with other UKRI DRI investments. It is crucial to develop a governance framework for the infrastructure and to take into consideration a set of operational and technical requirements for a federated repositories & data services' ecosystem for Arts and Humanities. |
| Exploitation Route | This fellowship and its findings provided foundation for the next phases of iDAH programme. More specifically, the recommendations of my report as well as suggestions and recommendations from the AHRC- RSE report have been influence the governance decisions as well as the infrastructural/technical choices of the programme. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| Description | This fellowship and its findings managed to provide quantitative evidence to AHRC to better structure the future infrastructure planning and investment , in the areas of data services and repositories in Arts and Humanities. Working closely not only with academics but also with heritage professionals and research software engineers, the fellowship managed to map the needs also of these communities and to reflect these in future investment provision. In addition, as part of the fellowship and in collaboration with the wider the AHRC Digital Research Infrastructure Team I contributed to the UKRI response provided at the Independent Review of the Future of Compute (2023) through recommendations on using cloud's improved interoperability and procurement capabilities , increasing compute capacity for AI research and on developing sustainable compute infrastructure . |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Policy & public services |
| Description | Input provided at the Independent Review of the Future of Compute |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | In the final report, there was a specific mention on "research disciplines and businesses that traditionally have not been compute-intensive, such as from the life sciences, digital humanities and social sciences". Furthermore, especially the recommendation towards "Responsible AI and advanced computing" reinforce the case for the now AHRC-funded BRAID program ( https://braiduk.org) and the recommendation towards "Widening provision in digital skills training and RSE careers" supported the phase 2 of the iDAH program as well as the investment on technical research staff and Research software engineers (https://www.ukri.org/what-we-do/developing-people-and-skills/bbsrc/investing-in-research-teams/technicians-and-technology-and-skills-specialists/). |
| URL | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-compute-review |
| Description | Collaboration on "Towards a National Research Software Engineering Capability in Arts and Humanities Research: a Roadmap" |
| Organisation | Alan Turing Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaboration with AHRC - funded Data/Culture project team (hosted at The Turing Institute) on "Towards a National Research Software Engineering Capability in Arts and Humanities Research: a Roadmap". I provided expertise and consultancy on RSE investments and policy. |
| Collaborator Contribution | 3 Workshops and active roadmap development sessions. |
| Impact | Not yet available . |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Collaboration with Research Software Engineering Competencies Toolkit |
| Organisation | Software Sustainability Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I have been asked to collaborate to Research Software Engineering Competencies Toolkit (https://rsetoolkit.github.io/rse-competencies-toolkit/) to bring an Arts and Humanities voice to it, in order to map and address better the skills requirements for professionals working around Research Software Engineering in Arts and humanities. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Knowledge exchange |
| Impact | Collaborate on a workshop proposal on "Giving a DH voice to the Research Software Engineering Competencies Toolkit" for the UK- IE Digital Humanities Association annual event 2025. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Software Sustainability Institute |
| Organisation | Software Sustainability Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As an active member of the Software Sustainability Institute since 2020 I have been engaging with the fellows and the wider community and communicating aspects of my research in various occasions (Collaborations workshops, blogposts etc). I have been also collaborating with SSI colleagues in writing the "Report on the AHRC Digital/ Software Requirements Survey 2021: Where is Investment Needed?" as part of my fellowship. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Software Sustainability Institute and its partners and fellows have been a valuable partner and source of inspiration and guidance throughout this fellowship. They joined various initiatives and working groups I developed as part of this fellowship, providing feedback and support in aspects of technical requirements , sustainability planning and governance structure as regards the provision of a digital research infrastructure. |
| Impact | Report on the AHRC Digital/ Software Requirements Survey 2021: Where is Investment Needed? (see publications) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | The Alan Turing Institute |
| Organisation | Alan Turing Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have been invited to join the Turing Humanities & Data Science Discussion Group of the Alan Turing Institute and present my research. I am also an active contributor with the Turing in terms of collaborations and engagement with the wider AHRC community . |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Turing team has been active in discussions on digital infrastructure for A&H from a strategic planning perspective and community engagement, through working groups and trainings. They have been contributing to this fellowship by offering their space for meetings, as well as their expertise in various aspect of community building and infrastructure requirements. |
| Impact | Turing Humanities & Data Science Discussion Group |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Blogpost for Talking Humanities blog : "Forever or five years": sustainability in digital scholarship - |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A blogpost entitled ""Forever or five years": sustainability in digital scholarship" on the sustainability of digital infrastructure published at the Talking Humanities SAS blog. The post got a lot of traffic and interest across the School and the wider community. Following this, I got two invitations to give a keynote and a presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://talkinghumanities.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2022/10/21/sustainability-in-digital-scholarship/ |
| Description | Blogpost on AHRC-SSI report, Software Sustainability Institute blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The "Report on the AHRC Digital/Software Requirements Survey 2021" is now available. The original survey run by the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) on the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UKRI AHRC) community aimed to understand the views on digital/software tools, the experience of developing such tools, the practices, learning intentions and preferences around how to resource projects involving digital/software. Initially, the report intended to help inform the digital infrastructure funding developed by the AHRC. In its final form, we believe it will benefit the AHRC and other arts and humanities funders, the organisations which support arts and humanities research and practice, the communities of practice, the members of AHRC's community, and those wanting to learn more about these topics, whether to inform their own practice or to understand the field. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.software.ac.uk/blog/2023-03-01-report-ahrc-digitalsoftware-requirements-survey |
| Description | Invitation to the Turing Humanities & Data Science Discussion Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An invitation to participate and present my fellowship's results at the Turing Humanities & Data Science Discussion Group on the 20 July 2022. The Discussion Group sits under the umbrella of the Humanities & Data Science SIG at the Turing. The group has been running since 2020 and we are restarting after a break in the second half of 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Organise an Research Software Engineer steering group Workshop I& II |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In order to assess opportunities for and barriers to the development of AH RSE capability, with a specific focus on contributing to the AHRC and iDAH programme and a wider remit to consider longer term strategic priorities and opportunities for alignment with UKRI and EU initiatives, a blue-sky thinking group including a wide stakeholders' selection has been set up (by invitation only). Two (hybrid, at the Turing Institute and online) workshops have been set up (25 May and 29 June 2022) bringing together a broad and representative group of stakeholders (33 participants from 21 UK institutions) under the iDAH Research Software Engineering (RSE) Steering Group, chaired by Professor James Smithies (King's College London), to hold foundational, inclusive, and broad-ranging, involving discussions, resulting in a report and a set of recommendations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Participation and presentation at the workshop on Digital infrastructure and user requirements, NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This workshop aims to bring together the research team, partners, as well as data producers and users. Specifically, it will co-develop a set of user requirements for a federated data service that addresses the needs of the community, both researchers and practitioners, to store, use, analyse and preserve complex visual datasets in the arts and humanities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/3ddataservice/workshop-visual-data-repositories-for-arts-and-humanities... |
| Description | Publicity through Sussex Newsletter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | newsletter entry on UK Research and Innovation appoints Sussex academic to Fellowship in Digital Research and Innovation Infrastructure |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/57304 |
| Description | Stakeholder (scoping grants) consultation meeting , University of Edinburgh |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In 22 June 2022AHRC a Scoping grants meeting has been organised at the University of Edinburgh, brining together the PIs and their teams from the iDAH scoping grants. A set of presentations for each grant and a discussion afterwards helped define better the requirements for a federated ecosystem of A&H infrastructure. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | participation at the British Library Conference "Open and Engaged 2022: Climate research in GLAM, digital infrastructure and skills to open collections", Monday 24 October 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | More than 200 participants from around the world attended the event, as part of the international Open Access Week. In line with this year's #OAWeek theme: Open for Climate Justice; Open and Engaged will address intersections between cultural heritage and climate research through use of collections, digital infrastructures and skills. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://blogs.bl.uk/digital-scholarship/2022/10/open-and-engaged-2022.html |
| Description | participation at the UKRI DRI Community Congress |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Share insights and findings from my fellowship with UKRI-wide colleagues and policy makers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | proposal for a Research Software Engineering in the Arts and Humanities - Community Interest Group at the UK-IR Digital Humanities Association |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Research Software Engineering in the Arts and Humanities Community interest group aims to offer a forum for the Research Software Engineering (RSE) community working and collaborating in Arts and Humanities across UK and Ireland for more focused discussion, expertise and knowledge exchange, action, advocacy and policy making towards the development of AH RSE capability. The CGI recognises that AH RSEs belong to the broad category of Research Technology Professionals which UKRI acknowledges are key to the delivery of high quality research. It aims to work in alignment with the UK RSE Society and other relevant national initiatives in the UK and Ireland such as the Software Sustainability Institute and the Society of Research Software Engineers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |