McGill: Microsoft says server farms are destroying the planet, so we're limiting the institutional cloud disk space we're giving you to 20 GB only
CIHR: You're still required to keep all your original data sets for all your research until 5 years after the end of the grant though
Me: If you and Microsoft want to actually do something about the planet, maybe pull the plug on OpenAI instead
McGill: If you have questions about the new policy read the email again good luck bye!
This isn't a joke
Microsoft instituted a new policy limiting academic accounts to 20 GB only
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS
McGill has no internal, local research data storage service because they went all-in on Microsoft services
And yes, CIHR requires that researchers hold on to original research data for 5 years after a grant ends
Meanwhile Microsoft is boiling the fucking oceans with its AI bullshit
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And the implications for research integrity are massive
We are REQUIRED by CIHR to keep original data sets for research for at least 5 years
This is so that if re-analysis is required, or if something needs to be audited, we can go back
And we can't just have people putting this data on personal hard drives or Google Drive or anything because some research data includes private, personally-identifiable information
So it has to be on the McGill-approved data storage
