Supporting Canada's Sovereign AI Compute Strategy through near-term investments in digital research infrastructure
As part of its mission to foster cutting-edge discovery and innovation, the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (the Alliance) is advancing the Government of Canada Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, with investments that in the near-term will provide Canadian researchers with access to AI-dedicated compute infrastructure, tools and resources.
Over the next three years, the Alliance will focus on the following key areas:
- Compute infrastructure enhancement: Deploy AI compute systems to meet short-term research needs and create a bridge toward long-term solutions.
- Pilot for a distributed storage grid: Deploy S3-compatible, jurisdictionally compliant storage nodes across institutions to complement national systems.
- National data platform prototype: Develop a prototype for a national platform for active data management, discovery, and access, fully integrated with distributed storage and national compute resources.
- Pilot national data spaces: Launch domain-specific spaces with community-led governance and inter-operability frameworks.
- Support for research software and AI tools: Develop sustainable support and funding for Canadian research software and domain-specific AI tools.
- Implementation of a RAiD registration agency: Launch a national service to issue persistent identifiers (RAiDs) for Canadian research projects.
These interconnected activities aim to build a cohesive and powerful DRI ecosystem that will empower researchers across all disciplines.