News

EDI Participates in the Research Data Alliance 20th Plenary Meeting 2023

April 11, 2023

Paul Hanson, Margaret O'Brien, and Bob Waide

Description

Momentum continues to gather within the international community around FAIR data and FAIR science. RDA P20, held in Gothenburg, Sweden, offered a forum for discussion within the global community around a variety of current topics, ranging from the technical intricacies of identifiers, controlled vocabularies, and living data management plans to broadscale strategic initiatives, such as global open research commons (GORC). For EDI, the meeting strengthened international connections and provided the opportunity to express the needs and priorities of our community. As a data repository for the environmental community, EDI directly relates to global consortia. The Australia Research Data Commons (ARDC), Data Publisher for Earth and Environmental Science (PANGAEA), Indonesian National Scientific Repository, African Open Science Platform (AOSP), the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), and the World Data System (WDS) are all examples of concerted efforts to advance a new kind of science based on FAIR data. Whether exchanging ideas through working groups and formal presentations or brainstorming new initiatives during social functions and hallway discussions, EDI continues to promote the value of our environmental community and elevate its leadership within the global data community.

Several interesting co-located events occurred before and after the main meeting. For example, the DataCite Connect meeting on Monday focused on national Persistent Identifier (PID) and Open Research strategies. Presentations by representatives of the National Library of Technology (CzechRepublic), the Helmholtz Open Science Office (Germany), the National Roadmap for Persistent Identifiers (Netherlands), the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Australian Research Data Consortium described plans for the development of national PID guidelines. Although the US has not yet begun actions to develop a national plan, recent guidance from the White House suggests that we may be moving towards such a plan.

A summary of the RDA 20th Plenary highlights is available. For those interested in learning more about the outcomes of RDA P20, the RDA’s Technical Advisory Board will host a webinar to share the takeaways of the breakout sessions held during the event and discuss the next steps. The webinar will take place on Thursday, 20 April 2023, at 07:30 UTC and 17:00 UTC. Registration is open and available here. Recordings of sessions will be made available to the general community on Monday, 1 May 2023. Check the RDA website for details.

The RDA 21st Plenary meeting will occur within IDW 2023: A Festival of Data, in Salzburg, Austria, on 23-26 October 2023. In 2024, RDA plans one fully virtual Plenary meeting and one hybrid Plenary meeting, with dates and locations to be announced.