To celebrate International Women’s Day, I invite you to read my latest blog: “We Need to Put More Players on the Field.” It reflects on gender parity in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and how it can contribute to greater productivity and innovation. Today and every day, I am grateful for the women working in STEM, and those working to help shape the future of digital research infrastructure in Canada. From all of us at NDRIO, thank you.
Deloitte to Lead National Service Delivery and Funding Model Work
I am pleased to announce that following a competitive process, Deloitte was selected to lead the consultations and design of NDRIO’s National Service Delivery and Funding Models. This is an important part of our 2021 workplan, and the output will significantly influence our Strategic Plan. There will be multiple opportunities for the community to provide input. Watch our website for news and information related to this project.
Save the Date: Members’ Meeting March 31, 2021
At our last Members’ meeting on Dec. 15, 2020, Members told us they would like to meet quarterly. March 31 will mark our first Members’ meeting of 2021. We will host one 90-minute Zoom meeting in English, and one in French, in which we will share news with respect to new team members, the 2021-22 Corporate Plan, the Canadian DRI Needs Assessment, Inaugural Projects and the National Service Delivery and Funding Model project. The Deloitte project team will be in attendance. There will also be ample opportunity to ask questions and share feedback. The meetings will be recorded and housed on our website for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Members will soon receive an email containing links to register for the meeting.
Members’ meetings are also tentatively planned for July 7, September 28 (AGM) and December 15.
Welcome to the Team
The NDRIO team continues to expand as we fill the roles reflected in our organizational structure shared last December. We welcome the following teammates:
- Narinder Dehal, Vice President, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
- Jennifer Arbour, Director, Strategic Initiatives
- Qian Zhang, Senior Analyst (Research Software)
- Felipe Pérez-Jvostov, Senior Analyst (Community Engagement & Planning)
- Leanne Reid, Administrative Associate
Norman Rees, outgoing Interim CFO, will transition his duties to Narinder over the next few months, following the completion of year-end. Mark Haley’s term as HR Lead has come to an end, now that Narinder is on board. I would like to thank Mark and Norm for all of their support throughout NDRIO’s start-up.
As always, if you have questions or comments about NDRIO or our work, please contact us at NDRIO-NOIRN@engagedri.ca.
Sincerely,
Nizar Ladak
CEO
New Digital Research Infrastructure Organization (NDRIO)