Governance

How DHInfra.at is run

We are developing a governance framework for shared Digital Humanities infrastructure across Austrian institutions — to be implemented with the start of regular operations.

Key focus areas

Decision-making

Clear processes for infrastructure decisions and strategic planning across partners.

Resource allocation

Fair-use policies and transparent allocation for computational resources, especially high-demand GPU infrastructure.

Support structure

A multi-level support system that draws on expertise across partner institutions.

Financial model

A sustainable model succeeding the dedicated project funding — considering both base contributions and usage-based components.

Funding & cost model

The dedicated project funding (2023–2026) covered building the infrastructure. Keeping it running afterwards needs a model that is fair and sustainable for all partners — this is being worked out cautiously.

In-kind today

Partner institutions contribute what they own — hosting, electricity, cooling, compute and staff time — and share capacity fairly across the consortium. There are no usage fees at the point of use right now.

First-come, first-served for now

While capacity is ample, access is granted on a first-come, first-served basis. We do track usage from the start — for operational reasons — so the instruments for accounting are in place, but we are not charging for it today.

Towards a sustainable model

We are looking carefully at the real costs of running the infrastructure — total cost of ownership, actual and expected usage, and long-term sustainability. Turning that into a durable financial model (base contributions and possible usage-based components) is part of the governance follow-up project.

The CLARIAH Helpdesk

A central part of our support structure is a dedicated DHInfra helpdesk, planned as part of a larger CLARIAH helpdesk initiative.

A single point of contact

The first stop for researchers asking about infrastructure access and use.

Coordination

Routes specialized requests to the right partner institution.

Connected to Europe

Integrated with the broader European CLARIAH support network.

Timeline

Roadmap

GPU cluster installed

Hardware delivered and racked at the University of Graz. (Aug 2025)

Closed testing phase

Internal testing within the consortium. (Sep–Dec 2025)

Scheduling & identity operational

GPU job scheduling with accounting and SSO testing in place. (Q1 2026)

LLM & embedding API operational

OpenAI-compatible LLM and embedding endpoints in service with project API keys, rolling out alongside cluster access. (Q1–Q2 2026)

Partner access rollout

Access opening to DHInfra.at and CLARIAH-AT partners. (Q2 2026, in progress)

Wider CLARIAH-AT access & helpdesk

Broader access and the launch of the DHInfra helpdesk. (from Q3 2026)

Note: This roadmap is a draft and will be updated as the framework develops.