The UK’s digital research infrastructure—the supercomputers, data networks, software, and laptops that underpin everything from climate modelling to drug discovery—currently runs on a growing appetite for scarce resources, and NetDRIVE aims to map a path to net-zero emissions for this sprawling system. This matters because the carbon footprint of digital research is not a single, easy-to-measure source. It spans high-performance computing clusters, personal devices, cybersecurity systems, and the people who operate them, all governed by dozens of independent decisions across universities and labs. No single body currently coordinates the shift to sustainability, so progress is fragmented and slow. If NetDRIVE succeeds, it will produce actionable advice for UKRI and the academic community, backed by community-tested metrics that track both physical realities—power consumption, embedded carbon—and human factors like trust and confidence. A network of Champions for Sustainable Research Computing, a Transformational Change coalition, and a portfolio of community activities will test new ideas, develop best-practice guides, and train researchers to change how they work. The result would be a trusted, go-to source for net-zero priorities, ensuring the UK’s digital research infrastructure can continue to support world-leading science without depleting the resources it depends on.
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Net-Zero Digital Research Infrastructure – Vision and Expertise (NetDRIVE) will address the enormous challenges of establishing a sustainable United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) digital research infrastructure (DRI), reversing a growing dependency on rapidly depleting resources. The UKRI DRI plays a critical role in delivering world-leading research and innovation for the UK. Advancing digital technology is transforming research and innovation just as digitization is transforming society. NetDRIVE will channel the momentum of this transformation into sustainable pathways. The carbon footprint of the DRI is diverse, ranging from high performance computing (HPC) to personal laptops, data infrastructure supporting open research to cybersecurity, software and the people using and operating it. This complexity is further increased by transdisciplinarity, highly distributed decision making, and the rapidly expanding role of the DRI. The footprint is modest compared to elements of the physical research infrastructure but nevertheless demands attention. NetDRIVE will deliver immediate and tangible progress, provide confidence in our pathway to sustainability, and demonstrate national and international thought leadership so that the DRI can continue to serve community needs well into the future. The challenges of organisational complexity and rapidly evolving technology will be turned into strengths by exploiting the diversity of the stakeholder community and the agility of the infrastructure. NetDRIVE will recruit a team of Champions for Sustainable Research Computing, convene a Network for Transformational Change, and fund a portfolio of Community Activities. Progress will be measured through community backed metrics, based on both the physical reality of observable quantities, such as power consumption and embedded carbon budgets, and the experienced realities of individuals, such as trust and confidence, in the DRI and the broader academic community. The Champions for Sustainable Research Computing will provide leadership across all aspects of technological advance and community transformation. They will be responsible for condensing and synthesizing outputs from across the project to formulate timely and actionable advice for UKRI and the academic community. The Network for Transformational Change will bring together domain experts, community leaders, visionaries, critics, and the leaders of tomorrow, from inside and outside of academia, to engage in free discourse on emerging questions and challenges for sustainable research computing. The Network will not only be a place to share the latest innovation but will itself become a new coalition to drive cultural transformation. Through embracing a diversity of views and opinions, NetDRIVE will ensure that emerging recommendations and advice have been well tested in an active and representative forum thereby establishing itself as the go-to place for questions on Net Zero DRI priorities and opportunities. Community Activities will address the need for technical innovation and organisational transformation, promote knowledge exchange, and build trust and confidence. Demonstrators and proof-of-concept studies will enable the community to explore and test new ideas, develop best practice guides and community resources, and provide training to empower individuals to realise necessary behavioural change. Working groups and task forces will bring together relevant teams to provide in-depth reports on subjects of interest and focus meetings will engage local actors, industry bodies and stakeholders in discussion forums on topical issues. Seizing opportunities to place focus meetings within or alongside existing large community gatherings and conferences will broaden reach and enable synergies to be exploited.
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