Source: FAIR-IMPACT
The application of Coscine in cooperation with fdm.nrw to participate in the FAIR-IMPACT Support Programme for repositories and data service providers has been successfully confirmed. This inclusion in the second call for Route 1 expert support marks an important step for both organizations and the further development of their services.
Read this blog post for more details about the program and its goals and challenges.
What Is the FAIR-IMPACT Support Programme?
The FAIR-IMPACT Support Programme provides targeted support to repositories and data service providers to assess and improve their ability to comply with the FAIR Principles. These principles – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable – are essential to ensure the usability and sustainability of digital objects. Repositories and data service providers play a central role in enabling and maintaining these characteristics.
Participants in the program will have access to a variety of services and tools, including:
- Guidelines for repositories, such as ACME-FAIR and Data Support Policy for Photon and Neutron Sciences;
- Measures to improve the FAIRness of objects in the repository, such as the CESSDA Data Archiving Guide and the FAIR Cookbook;
- Automated FAIR assessments, such as F-UJI and the Framework for the Assessment of FAIR Services;
- Certifications for repositories, such as CoreTrustSeal+FAIRenabling Capability Maturity Model and FAIRsFAIR Repository Support.
Goals and Challenges of Coscine and fdm.nrw
Coscine, the central service for research data management at 42 universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, offers data storage and archiving during the active project phase and for up to ten years after the end of the project. Coscine differs from typical repositories due to the special requirements resulting from constantly changing files and file types during the active project phase. Since not all files of a research project are published or archived long-term, the focus is on the FAIR preservation of data to enable long-term archiving at a later date.
A central goal of participation in the FAIR-IMPACT Support Programme is to obtain certification that strengthens the trust of users and stakeholders in Coscine. The aim is to evaluate whether the CoreTrustSeal is suitable for Coscine’s specific needs. If not, alternative certifications or other ways to be recognized as a trustworthy service for research data management will be sought.
Knowledge Exchange and Stakeholder Engagement
Coscine and fdm.nrw rely on existing networks and structures to effectively pass on the knowledge gained in the program. Through Coscine’s governance structure, knowledge is shared with the entire RDM community in NRW. The participating team has great influence on several governance levels of Coscine, which ensures that all results and necessary changes from the workshops are understood, accepted and supported.
Ilona Lang, group leader and service manager of Coscine, has a high strategic influence on the development of Coscine and is in close contact with all relevant stakeholders. Sirieam Hunke, one of Coscine’s senior software developers, will bring technical changes directly to the development team and act as a FAIR trainer. Magdalene Cyra, head of the State Initiative for Research Data Management (fdm.nrw) and member of the Coscine Advisory Board, will initiate necessary changes at state level and influence the strategic development of Coscine.
Participation in the FAIR-IMPACT Support Programme is a further step in establishing Coscine as a FAIR and trustworthy research data service and implementing the best possible practices in research data management. Coscine and fdm.nrw look forward to working with the FAIR-IMPACT team and are excited about the insights and improvements that will be achieved through this program. Together, they are working to strengthen the FAIR principles in their organizations and continuously improve their services.
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Responsible for the content of this article is Arlinda Ujkani.
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