The study fits within the context of the UK’s Digital Research Infrastructure Strategy, with a specific strategic focus on Artificial Intelligence as part of the UK’s National AI Strategy. The review will focus on digital research infrastructure needs to support the development and use of AI, looking at the compute provision, data access and people. The review will be used by Government and UKRI to inform future policy decisions about funding for AI infrastructure.
The study is scheduled to run from February to June 2022 and will be based on desk research, and stakeholder consultation of research infrastructures, and academic and industry organisations that undertake research on publicly funded infrastructure to either develop or apply AI.
The Alan Turing Institute has commissioned Technopolis to provide support in conducting the consultation.
For the purposes of this study, Artificial Intelligence (AI) describes a suite of computational technologies and tools that aim to reproduce or surpass abilities of humans to undertake complex tasks like learning and problem solving, either with or without human intervention. For the purposes of this questionnaire, please consider AI as covering a wide spectrum of technologies with these capabilities that include, but are not limited to, approaches such as machine learning, deep learning, neural networks and other related technologies.
Digital research infrastructure pertains to:
- 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.
As part of the study, the team will conduct interviews with a range of relevant stakeholders and deliver a survey of the relevant academic and industry community. All data and opinions shared with the study team will be treated with the strictest confidentiality and all information will only be analysed in an aggregate manner.
How to contribute
If you are an academic or industrial researcher using Digital Research Infrastructure working to develop or apply AI, or are starting to explore AI for your work, we want to hear about your needs.
We ask about your needs in terms of compute provision, access to data and skills/training.
We would also appreciate it if you could encourage colleagues and collaborators to complete the survey, so that the review is representative of the UK’s research and innovation sectors and incorporates a diverse range of views.
The survey is now closed.
Contact
Should you have any further questions regarding the study, please get in touch with either Tomas Lazauskas ([email protected]) or Neil Brown ([email protected]).
