AURIN Edge pilot opens access to hard-to-get urban data for Australian researchers

The Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) has run the inaugural round of AURIN Edge, a pilot giving eligible researchers competitive, time-limited access to scarce datasets, APIs, training and technical support. Applicants must be employed by an Australian university or research body and study city or regional issues.

Projects must address a focus area: housing systems and delivery, future mobility, or energy systems and the transition to net zero. They should have an intended user, a route to practical application and sit between Technology Readiness Levels 4 and 7.

Data on offer includes Mobility+ population-movement data, with Nearmap imagery and AI-extracted features and Domain property market data listed as coming soon. Expressions of interest closed on 23 October 2026, technical consultations run to 23 November, and projects are expected to start between December 2026 and January 2027. A second round is planned for early 2027.

Why it matters: The scheme shows how a national research infrastructure can broker commercial location data, such as aerial imagery and mobility records, for public-interest research. Similar access models could interest African spatial data infrastructures and university programmes.