Realising the Data Hubs Concept for Urban Research in Australia

Abstract: Discovering and accessing relevant data is a problem often faced by urban researchers, policy and decision-makers across Australia. To address this, several public, private and academic entities are establishing Data Hubs; online catalogues for data discovery, access and interrogation. Data Hubs are typically web services accessible via a portal, however often narrow geographic or application focus, and provide varied levels of analytical and visualisation capability. The Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) is an initiative focused on providing urban researchers, policy and decision-makers better access to comprehensive datasets through a dedicated e-Infrastructure platform. The AURIN portal will facilitate programmatic access to data held in many emerging Data Hubs across Australia. AURIN is implementing a federated data approach, providing a single access point and common interface for interrogating datasets. This paper outlines the Data Hub concept, describing the process and benefits of Data Hub integration within the AURIN e-infrastructure context. Citation: Delany, P. & Petit, C. (2014). Realising the Data Hubs Concept for Urban Research in Australia. In: Campbell P. and Perez P. (Eds), Proceedings of the International Symposium of Next Generation Infrastructure, 1-4 October 2013, SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong, Australia.