Antarctic and Southern Ocean Data Stewardship RFP

Antarctica New Zealand is seeking a supplier to support the establishment of an enduring data capability for New Zealand’s Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific, environmental, and operational data. The capability must enable data to be securely preserved, managed, discovered, accessed, shared, and reused over the long term. It must be able to accommodate a wide range of data types (e.g. tabular, multi-dimensional, raster, vector, streamed) and volumes (MB/GB/TB datasets) for both individual datasets and collections, and exchange data and metadata with national and international services. The capability must be founded on FAIR data principles—making data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable—together with TRUST principles for dependable digital repositories. Data should be made as open as practicable and as closed as necessary, with support for data embargoes, permissions, security, cultural considerations, and other appropriate access controls. We are seeking a sustainable, scalable, secure, and interoperable capability that supports Antarctica New Zealand's role as a trusted steward of New Zealand’s Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific data, and improves the management and access of our environmental and operational geospatial data. The solution should be efficient to operate and designed to minimise ongoing operating expenditure over its life, without compromising data integrity, preservation, security, accessibility, or service quality.