The Square Kilometre Array radio telescope in South Africa will generate more data each day than the entire global internet traffic of a decade ago, and this network trains researchers to handle that flood. The problem is stark: the SKA’s data volumes overwhelm existing analytical tools, and South Africa lacks enough data scientists to exploit the telescope’s discoveries. Without a trained workforce, the country risks becoming a passive data-collection site rather than a leader in the science the telescope enables. This network links UK and South African universities to build that workforce through shared online courses, collaborative research platforms, and a data portal that doubles as a teaching tool. If the network succeeds, it will create a lasting pipeline of data scientists who can work not only on SKA data but on any big-data challenge—from medical imaging to climate modelling. The programme deliberately avoids building new hardware, instead piggybacking on existing SKA computing facilities. The immediate impact is a trained cohort and a reusable cyber-infrastructure. The longer-term effect is a self-sustaining UK-Africa research collaboration that turns raw telescope data into fundamental discoveries about the universe.
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The programme will build a multi-institute big data research and training platform, between the South African and UK partner universities, that will establish sustainable links via a Data Science Network, led by academics and developed and refined in consultation with the user community. eResearch capacity is an absolute necessity in a world where the appropriate handling of big data, in the natural sciences, medicine, the humanities and the social sciences is of paramount importance. This program will support the development of research capacity in Big Data and Data Science in South Africa through the creation of a joint UK-SA training network which will form the basis of a long term sustainable research collaboration that has the potential to address issues of global concern. The program is designed to create a UK-SA Data Science Network to advance research and training in big data science. As a core tool to support the network and its programs we will develop and deploy an online portal gateway. Such cyber-infrastructure can be used both as a direct teaching resource, hosting MOOCs and other online material, as well as a research platform for data science and big data, hosting a data portal and collaborative work space. The program does not intend to build physical infrastructure, but will utilise capacity at existing facilities developed for data intensive research in conjunction with the SKA project in Africa.
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