It is one of the most complex IT projects conceived; a global effort involving about 350 engineers, scientists and researchers from around the world working together on its design and development, planning to build thousands of radio telescopes in southern Africa and Australia between 2018 and 2024, to monitor and survey the sky.
Open Parallel, directed by Nicolas Erdody, of Oamaru, is leading two software development work packages of the SKA, which will go for formal tender in 2017.
The tender for the construction of the first phase of the SKA is for just over $1 billion, a significant part of that dedicated to computing.
The SKA will scan the skies thousands of times faster than previously possible, producing vast amounts of data.
Data rates involved will require real-time analysis of 10 terabytes per second, the equivalent of streaming one million HD movies at once.
It will give astronomers insight into the formation of the first stars and galaxies after the Big Bang, how galaxies have evolved, the role of magnetism in the cosmos, the nature of gravity, and studies in astrobiology.
And, if history is any guide, the SKA will raise more questions about the universe than it will answer.
In the lead-up to the procurement process, Open Parallel's first contribution to the SKA was delivered last month.
Mr Erdody's team has been working on a preliminary design since late 2013. In 2015-16 his company will present its final design to go for a formal tender.
''What we are contributing is a design of the platform for the largest IT project in the world,'' he said.
''That implies challenges in programming, challenges in physics, challenges in hardware; you need to deal with all the companies in the world and that's the benefit for Open Parallel. It puts you ahead of anyone else because you are exposed to everyone's thinking.
''That's why I am also excited for New Zealand in general. It's a unique opportunity for New Zealand to really have a significant part of the biggest IT project in history.''
The project was a global enterprise involving 11 countries and one of the biggest IT challenges of all time, Mr Erdody said.
Its ''Big Data'' requirements are a trigger for the development of new IT concepts, in both hardware and software.
Open Parallel's ''innovative and effective'' approach to software development was also applicable to other industries and ensured benefits from the SKA would spill over into industry applications, Mr Erdödy said.
''SKA is an enabler of opportunities; the software stack for massive systems that we are designing can have applications to New Zealand problems, from primary industries to complex services and systems like the IRD transformation project.''
Open Parallel's team is lead by its founder, Mr Erdody, and includes media platform pioneer and author of DirectX, Alex St John, and global expert in scalability and distributed systems, Rob O'Brien.
The team works in association with Catalyst, the largest open source software company in New Zealand and Australia.
The Software Development Plan has been produced as a self-funded New Zealand industry contribution to the SKA project by members of Open Parallel team and associates from Catalyst.
Catalyst director Don Christie said it was excited to support Open Parallel's participation in the SKA project.
Mr Christie and Mr Erdody flew to Perth this week to participate in the 2014 SKA Engineering Meeting and discuss the software platform and status of the SKA design with scientists and engineers who will converge from all over the world.
Open Parallel and Catalyst are the only industry participants from New Zealand.
