The RESEARCH DATA ALLIANCE:

THE WHAT, THE WHY & THE WHO …

@resdatall – enquiries@rd-alliance.org

Research Data Driving Solutions to Complex Scientific and Societal Challenges

Who is most at risk to contract asthma?

How can we increase

wheat yields?

How accurate is the Standard Model of Physics?

Image: Lucas Taylor

How can we best address energy needs and sustain the environment?

Image: Ceinturion, Wikipedia

Data-Sharing Driving Innovation Across Sectors and Communities

World-wide Efforts Focusing on Infrastructure to Support Research Data Sharing, Access, Use

Science, Humanities, Arts Communities

E-Infrastructure professionals, data analysts,

data center staff, …Data

Scientists

Libraries, Archives, Repositories, Museums

“We are taking our work beyond Europe's borders, to reach global scale. To make the scientific resources of the world work together, interoperating and open to discovery. For example we are working with partners like the US and Australia in the Research Data Alliance to make scientific progress broader, deeper and more workable”. Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda - Open Access to science and data = cash and economic bonanza, 19 November 2013

Why a Research Data Alliance?

… So much to gain from collaboration …

What is RDA about?

7

Researchers and innovators openly share data across technologies, disciplines, and countries to address the grand challenges of society.

… building the social and technical bridges that enable global open sharing of data.

Researchers, scientists, data practitioners from around the world are invited to work together to achieve the vision

CREATE - ADOPT - USE : The RDA Approach

RDA Members come together as

•Working Groups – 12-18 month efforts to build, adopt, and use specific pieces of infrastructure

•Interest Groups – longer-lived discussion forums that spawn Working Groups as specific pieces of needed infrastructure are identified.

Working Group efforts focus on the development and use of data sharing infrastructure

•Code, policy, infrastructure, standards, or best practices that are adopted and used by communities to enable data sharing

•“Harvestable” efforts for which 12-18 months of work can eliminate a roadblock

•Efforts that have substantive applicability to groups within the data community, but may not apply to everyone

•Efforts for which working scientists and researchers can start today

RDA Interest (IG) and Working Groups (WG) by Focus

Reference and Sharing - focused•Data Citation WG•Standardization of Data Categories and Codes WG•RDA/CODATA Legal Interoperability IG•Data Description Registry Interoperability Working Group

Community Needs - focused•Community Capability Model IG•Engagement IG•Development of Cloud Computing Capacity and Education in Developing World Research IG•Ethics and Social Aspects of Data IG

First RDA Infrastructure Deliverables

Data Type Registries WG•Deliverables: System of data type registries, formal model for describing types, working model of a registry.

•Initial Adopters and Users: CNRI, International DOI Foundation, Deep Carbon Observatory

Practical Code Policies•Deliverables: Survey of policies in production use, testbed of machine actionable policies, deployment of 5 policy sets, policy starter kits

•Initial Adopters and Users: RENCI, DataNet Federation Consortium, CESNET, Odum Institute, EUDAT

Persistent Identifier Information Types•Deliverables: Minimal set of PID types, API

•Initial Adopters and Users: Data Conservancy, DKRZ

Language Codes•Deliverables: Operationalization of ISO language categories for repositories.

•Initial Adopters and Users: Language Archive, Paradisec

Data Foundations and Terminology•Deliverables: Common vocabulary for data terms, formal definitions and open registry for data terms

•Initial Adopters and Users: EUDAT, DKRZ, Deep Carbon Observatory, CLARIN, EPOS

Metadata Standards•Deliverables: Use cases and prototype directory of current metadata standards starting from DCC directory

•Initial Adopters and Users: JISC, DataOne

Map courtesy traveltip.org

Austral-pacific

4%

Africa

2% SouthAmerica

1%

The RDA Community Today: Over 1950 members from 80+ countries (July 14)

Asia4%

From 387 members in July 2013, we have grown 400% to over 1,950 members from more than 80 countries around the world.

Can your Organisation become a member?• … includes R&D agencies, for-profit companies and

non-profit foundations, community organizations, institutions, etc. (Annual membership fee based on size of organisation (# persons))

Why should it become a member?

• Affiliation with likeminded organisations to coordinate efforts in mutual areas of interest & to avoid unnecessary duplication ...

Next Steps for RDA

Continuing pipeline of infrastructure deliverables adopted and used to accelerate data sharing

Increasing coordination of infrastructure

Increasing cross-boundary collaborations between domains, sectors, organizations

International and regional programs focusing on workforce, outreach, expansion of infrastructure impact

New partners in the Organizational Assembly

Focused strategy to support development of industry infrastructure for data sharing

More Infrastructure

Focus on Industry

Synergistic Programs

Effective Community

• Check out RDA activities @ www.rd-alliance.org• Become an RDA member - https://www.rd-

alliance.org/get-involved.html• Get involved in Working & Interest Groups -

https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups• Propose new groups -

https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/group-process-procedures.html

• Attend the next Plenary – USA March 2015• Become an Organisational member - https://www.rd-

alliance.org/rda-organisational-membership.html

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