The NCRIS Roadmap was developed by the NCRIS Committee in 2005 following extensive consultation with the research community. The Roadmap was released by the Government in February 2006 and can be found here.
Now that funding arrangements for a number of priority NCRIS capabilities are underway, an update of the 2006 Roadmap is proposed to:
- Provide an assessment of Australia's infrastructure requirements, taking into consideration recent developments in research and changing priorities which have occurred since the Roadmap was first developed, and also the infrastructure investments that have been made in this period.
- Provide an updated and revised Roadmap that can inform decisions about future investments in research infrastructure and, more broadly, be an integral component of Australia’s collaborative approach to building national research capability and supporting the Government’s objectives in this area. In particular, a revised Roadmap may flow into developments with the Education InvestmentFund and the National Innovation System Review.
The review is intended to both review and refine the capabilities identified in the 2006 Roadmap, and to identify key new capabilities.
To assist in reviewing the 2006 Roadmap, five expert working groups have been established. Four of these groups are aligned with the National Research Priorities (Environmentally Sustainable Australia, Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, Frontier Technologies, Safeguarding Australia). A fifth group covers the Humanities, Arts and the Social Sciences. In addition to the five expert working groups, an ICT Strategy Group has been established to identify and synthesise current and future ICT research infrastructure requirements.
The chairs of the Expert Working Groups are:
Environmentally Sustainable Australia: Dr Chris Pigram, Deputy CEO, Geoscience Australia
Promoting and Maintaining Good Health: Professor Caroline McMillen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, University of South Australia
Frontier Technologies: Professor Rod Hill, Pro Vice-Chancellor - Industry Engagement and Commercialisation, Monash University
Humanities, Arts and the Social Sciences: Professor Graeme Turner, Director, Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Queensland
Safeguarding Australia: Professor Helen Garnett, Vice-Chancellor, Charles Darwin University
ICT Strategy: Dr Rhys Francis, Executive Director, Australian e-Research Infrastructure Council
A list of members of each Working Group can be found here 
(39.0 KB).
Discussion Paper
The Expert Working Groups and the ICT Strategy Group prepared input to a discussion paper for consultation that was released in April. The discussion paper is available here:
Exposure Draft
Following comment from stakeholders on the discussion paper, the Working Groups and the NCRIS Secretariat have prepared an Exposure Draft of the updated Roadmap for comment. The Exposure Draft, released on 4 July 2008, is available here:
Responses from stakeholders and the wider community on this Exposure Draft are encouraged and welcomed. The closing date for responses is Friday 18 July 2008.
Responses can be made to the NCRIS Secretariat electronically (preferred) via ncris@innovation.gov.au or by hard copy to:
NCRIS Secretariat
Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR)
PO Box 9839
Canberra ACT 2601