DRI’s Director, Dr. Natalie Harrower, has been appointed to the European Commission’s expert group on FAIR Data.
The FAIR Data group is tasked with five essential tasks, including: 1) Mapping the existing initiatives and analysing the components of FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable) to develop recommendations on how to turn each of these components into reality (on EU/ Member State/ international level); 2) Propose indicators to measure progress on each of the FAIR components; 3) Give input to a proposed action plan on how to make data FAIR; 4) Contribute to the evaluation of the Horizon 2020 DMP template and future revisions of the template, in light of harmonisation with funders across the EU, including the development of additional sector/ discipline specific guidance (if desired); 5) Provide input into the issue of costing and financing of data management activities (on EU/ Member State/ international level). The groups recommendations will be outlined and published in a Final Report.
FAIR data — data that is findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable/ re-producible — is an integral part in the process of opening up science and research. By improving the FAIR-ness of research data it will unlock the potential for both scientific research and society to draw from the benefits of this data, and also enable significant contribution to economic growth. FAIR data is an integral part of the European Commission’s Open Science agenda, and the ambition is to make FAIR data sharing the default practice for scientific research by 2020. The overall objective of the Expert Group on Turning FAIR data into reality is to operationalise and facilitate this goal.
The Digital Repository of Ireland is committed to promoting and supporting good practices in data archiving and preservation, and maintains an active interest in relevant European and international developments. As a national e-infrastructure for data archiving and preservation, DRI also operates as a community network for the exchange of ideas, approaches, and best practices. DRI is committed to supporting FAIR data practices, and maintains an active engagement with the organisations, networks, and policy developments that promote FAIR data, such as the Research Data Alliance, the OECD, European Open Science Cloud, and Ireland’s National Open Research Forum.
For more information on the Commission’s Open Science agenda, see:
https://ec.europa.eu/research/openscience/index.cfm
Further Reading on the history and details of FAIR data:
https://www.force11.org/group/fairgroup/fairprinciples
https://content.iospress.com/articles/information-services-and-use/isu824
https://www.ands.org.au/working-with-data/fairdata
