Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland trials ReDBox

New Zealand's highest-ranked university is trialling ReDBox as part of a work program to increase the institution's research data management capability maturity.

ReDBox will enable and support researchers at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland to use good data management practices and meet FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable), CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, Ethics) and Māori Data Sovereignty principles. 

Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, has become the first non-Australian university to pilot the QCIF-managed online Research Data Management (RDM) platform ReDBox (Research Data Box).  

QCIF Business Development and Communications Manager Troy Lockett said: "We are glad to have our first New Zealand university as a ReDBox subscriber. We are hoping to expand ReDBox into other institutions in New Zealand and other parts of the world."

QCIF developed a customised version of ReDBox 3.0 for the University of Auckland to pilot. This is part of the University’s three-phase development plan to integrate ReDBox with enterprise systems to enable researchers to create research data management plans and reuse information in multiple systems, reducing administrative burden.  

Following an initial phase of gathering requirements with co-design members, the University is now halfway through the six-month pilot of ReDBox as their machine-actionable Data Management Planning (maDMP) tool.   

The University's RDM Programme – maDMP initiative Technical Lead, Yvette Wharton, said: "Feedback from participants so far has been that the system is intuitive and easy to use." 

She added that QCIF's ability to customise ReDBox has been "a critical factor in considering it as our maDMP tool. Customisation allows us to bring in connections, information and questions specific to our place in the world and provide Waipapa Taumata Rau specific advice and support."   

The ability to automate workflows and integration research systems were specified as important components in the requirements phase. The RDM Programme’s work identified the lookup and workspace functionality within ReDBox as supporting greater connectivity within their research systems which helps to streamline research administrative tasks. 

The University's researchers can utilise data feeds, such as grant and people details within the DMP, to allow them to look up and enter this information with just a few keystrokes, saving time and reducing data-entry errors. 

Yvette and her team have found it “easy to work with QCIF, the team are really responsive to our queries. We want to add language customisation — te reo Māori — for our researchers, and the ReDBox team have worked to enable this type of capability,” said Yvette.

Once the University of Auckland's ReDBox pilot is complete, QCIF will join them in working through the next steps. 

ReDBox currently has 12 Australian institutions as subscribers, including James Cook University, CQUniversity, University of Technology Sydney, University of Canberra, Deakin University, University of Wollongong, University of Newcastle, Western Sydney University, University of Notre Dame Australia, University of Western Australian, Southern Cross University, and the federal Department of Defence.  

For more information about ReDBox, please contact QCIF's Troy Lockett: troy.lockett@qcif.edu.au.