Collate, categorise and learn from best practices for sustainable data infrastructures
From GRDI2020
This is a GRDI recommendation; return to Main Page with all the challenges or to recommendations
Context and Challenges
There are examples of successful sustainable data services, including
- GEOSS (e.g. they already documented their early history, as well as their governance and approach)
- PANGAEA
- GenBank
- various OECD services.
These organisations have needed to overcome many challenges to get where they are today. One example is the way GEOSS links to "Societal Benefit Areas" and therby got governments around the world on board to support them.
Recommendation
Analyse and collect best practice information from successful archive bodies to design governance, funding and policy frameworks for other, (e.g. more generalised) data services.
Leverage targeted funding for “translators” to form communities of practice to gather and curate this information.
- Pragmatic approach ‐ hosted by an existing NGO or a dedicated organisation
- Material needs to be open access
Stakeholders and Impact
The World Data System may drive this. “A new ICSU World Data System (WDS) has been created in 2010. WDS builds on the 50-year legacy of the ICSU World Data Centre system (WDC) and the ICSU Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical data-analysis Services. Many existing WDCs and Federation Services, as well as numerous other data centres, services and activities, have already expressed interest in becoming part of the new system. The WDS concept aims at a transition from existing stand-alone WDCs and individual Services to a common globally interoperable distributed data system that incorporates emerging technologies and new scientific data activities.
The new system will build on the potential offered by advanced interconnections between data management components for disciplinary and multidisciplinary scientific data applications. Applications for the new WDS are already being investigated, including the WDC online portal which is being considered as a proof of concept for an element of the new system.
WDS will enjoy a broader disciplinary and geographic base than previous ICSU bodies and will strive to become a worldwide ‘community of excellence’ for scientific data. To this end, WDS will work closely with ICSU’s Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) and with the new ICSU Strategic Coordinating Committee for Information and Data (SCCID)”.
