The Te Pūkenga whānau is already bearing fruit in the world of research. Late October Unitec signed an agreement with EIT, Toi Ohomai and Otago Polytechnic to share our Research Bank system with them.
What is Research Bank?
Research Bank is our open access research repository which make our research available to the world. The system has been updated and improved over the past 10 years but in 2019 that Unitec’s IT team generously offered to take on the hosting of the system, migrating it from a University to Unitec’s IBM data centre. IT’s Computer Systems Administrator, Ian Miller, facilitated the migration and continues to manage the ongoing operation of Research Bank at Unitec, and Project/Programme Manager Tom Nimmo continues to provide expert project management.
Why are other Te Pūkenga subsidiaries interested in our Research Bank?
In early 2020, with the upcoming establishment of Te Pūkenga, we realised that the Research Bank could be of interest to other subsidiaries.
Marcus Williams our Director of Research & Enterprise, Tuapapa Rangahau, highlighted our Research Bank resource at a monthly, national meeting of Research Directors. There was immediate interest in our state-of-the-art tool, which allows research to be made available in the public domain, including student research theses. This was also recognised as a valuable resource due to the mandate from the Tertiary Education Commission to TEOs (that provide Level 9 and 10 postgraduate degrees), that we must publish the theses ‘Open Access’. The seed was sown and the journey underway.
Through the collective efforts of Marcus, Ian and Tom from IT, Anna Wheeler – Manager Resources, Library and Information, and David Church, our Research Bank Administrator, the process required to onboard other Te Pūkenga subsidiaries was mapped out and costed, then presented to the Te Pūkenga subsidiaries Research Directors. A commitment was made by Unitec, Eastern Institute of Technology, Otago Polytechnic and Toi Ohomai.
Despite COVID the project continued online and librarians from the institutions have shown their support in good numbers.
Anna Wheeler has been instrumental in designing and implementing the operating model in detail, and says she and the others involved, are excited about being involved in this first step in our transitional journey to all being Te Pūkenga. Anna says the experience was a great example of mahi kotahitanga, even though they hit a few challenges along the way, the collective objective and a strong desire to make it work meant all parties “stuck with it” and got the project over the line.
Congratulations to everyone involved. This mahi is a great example of the benefits of collaboration within the Te Pūkenga subsidiaries, and of creating an outcome that provides a significant and well-supported resource to the research community and our students.
Huge achievement, congratulations to all involved.