Using RAiD as part of a connected research infrastructure has benefits across the research eco-system. It facilitates the linking of research activities to research inputs and outputs such as data, publications and people. RAiD has benefits for Institutions, Instrument Managers and Funding agencies:

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Institutions 

A Principal Investigator has taken leave from a project to go on remote area fieldwork. They will be deep in the Outback and not able to be contacted. 

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Research Assistants on the project are worried that they won't be able to access the project data to continue work and the Office of Ethics and Research don't know where the project stored their data or who should have access to it.

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Luckily, the PI had used the university's Research Data Planning Tool to make a Data Management Plan outlining the project members and collaborating institutions. The DMP system automatically allocated their project storage at the university and identified it with a RAiD. 

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With RAiD integration the Office of Ethics and Research can see the collaborating institutions and assist in helping them get access to data while the PI is busy on fieldwork.

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The RAiD also linked the project storage and team members so the research assistants continue to have access to any instruments and data that was related to the project.

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Instruments

The National Optics Facility is used by hundreds of researchers from around the country and its managers need to keep track of all the individual researchers, associated grants and how to provide access to the data created at the Facility. 

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To do this bookings are made by projects instead of individuals and the Facility uses RAiD to identify each project and to allocate it specific storage for data outputs. Institutions, project team members, funding ID and the storage locations are stored in the RAiD manifest/envelope. 

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Now the National Optics Facility has a way of tracking who is using their instruments, storing output data for the project teams to access as a group and also automating reports about impact and use.

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Funders

The National Funding Body awards millions of dollars in grants every year and needs a way to see the impact and outcomes of specific funding, as well as the wider picture of research activity generated by funding in the sector.   

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The Funding Body grant allocation and management platform attaches a RAiD to each project that it awards a grant to. As the project progresses the RAiD manifest/folder records details of the project interactions such as individual researchers and support staff, institutions that work on and collaborate with the research, data outputs from the research and instruments that are used. The traditional outputs of publications and conference proceedings are also included.

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All of this information can be used to give a full picture of the impact and return on investment of the grant.

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