The sheer volume of data now available is one of the challenges that eResearch faces, says Dr Jo Lane, organising chairperson of the eResearch New Zealand Conference being held this week.

“There's so much data we don't know how to process it,” Lane says.

This challenge is a focus of the conference, with the exploration of ways in which researchers can share large amounts of data more effectively by using technology to collaborate.

This year's conference is being held at the University of Waikato, with around 120 delegates from Universities and research institutes in Australasia.

The aim of the conference is to concentrate on real world, data science and education as it relates to eResearch. eResearch is about using tools and technology to augment traditional research practices, Lane says, and it spans all research areas.

Presenters are focusing on developing eResearch capabilities and solutions, taking into account cultural, organisational and technical considerations.

Dave Turek from IBM, Professor Bryan Lawrence from the University of Reading and Kaitlin Thaney from the Mozilla Science Lab are amongst the keynote speakers.

A key focus of the conference is education. This involves examining how existing researchers can develop eResearch skills, and how to prepare the new generation of eResearchers through postgraduate studies.

Though ultimately, says Lane, as the use of technology in research becomes ubiquitous, the use of the ‘e' tag in eResearch will disappear.

For more information on the conference, visit http://ernz2014.eresearch.org.nz/