Source: fdm.nrw
The state office of the State Initiative for Research Data Management (abbreviated as Landesinitiative fdm.nrw) serves as the central hub for strategic developments in research data management (RDM) in North Rhine-Westphalia. Since its founding in 2017, it has been connecting universities and stakeholders across the state, supporting the establishment and expansion of RDM structures and state-level RDM services, and providing information on current, cross-cutting developments in RDM. In addition, the Landesinitiative fdm.nrw supports the implementation of the DH.NRW State RDM Concept, which was published in 2024. With its information, networking, and exchange offerings, the fdm.nrw state initiative is aimed in particular at FDM staff at universities.
In this blog post, you will find an overview of the development of the fdm.nrw state initiative from its founding to the present, as well as its key areas of activity and its collaboration with RWTH.
fdm.nrw – Development from Founding to the Present
The state initiative was initially founded in 2017 with the goal of informing universities in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) about the development of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) and supporting them in their involvement with the NFDI. Initially, the focus was particularly on networking relevant stakeholders and providing information. This unifying character has remained a hallmark of the state initiative fdm.nrw to this day.
Starting in 2019, the scope of responsibilities expanded to include the areas of continuing education and support for RDM at universities of applied sciences (HAW). In addition, the development of cross-university infrastructures and their support increasingly became a focus of the state initiative.
In January 2024, the state initiative fdm.nrw was established as a permanent state office. Also in that year, the State Research Data Management Concept was adopted and published, and its implementation is being supported by the state initiative fdm.nrw.
State Research Data Management Concept – Areas of Action
The State Research Data Management Concept establishes a framework within which the universities of the DH.NRW address the field of research data management. Goals and implementation pathways are outlined across five areas of action.
The topics range from the strategic orientation of university locations (Action Area I) to the development of federated information infrastructures and state services (Action Area II), the integration of scientific needs into the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) (Action Area III), and the development and pooling of expertise (Action Area IV), to the institutional anchoring of FDM in NRW (Action Area V).
Cooperation with RWTH
The cooperation between the state initiative fdm.nrw and RWTH is strongly characterized by partnership and takes place on multiple levels. In this context, the state initiative fdm.nrw primarily handles state-wide coordination, networking, and structural development in FDM in NRW, while RWTH contributes its technical expertise, practical experience, and proprietary developments to these processes. This cooperation is particularly evident in the context of event formats such as the FDM Workshop and Research Data Day: While the state initiative fdm.nrw centrally coordinates these formats at the state level, RWTH actively participates with its own contributions, workshops, and content-related ideas and, for example, helps organize the local afternoon program at Research Data Day in Aachen.
Technical FDM State Services in NRW
Particularly noteworthy is the collaboration to establish NRW-wide FDM state services for all universities in the DH.NRW. Close cooperation in state-wide working groups contributes to coordinated interaction among the various FDM state services.
In the context of Action Area II of the State FDM Concept, generic FDM state services are currently being established. The focus here is on cross-university, state-wide cooperation. RWTH is the lead partner in three FDM state services:
- git.nrw: The GitLab instance git.nrw, which can be used throughout NRW, is already available to RWTH members. Starting this summer, the platform will be available to all member universities of DH.NRW.
- Coscine.nrw: The FDM platform Coscine is being developed at the RWTH IT Center and enables researchers in NRW to collaborate across universities in the storage and management of research data.
- FDM:Storage.nrw: The research data storage infrastructure consists of the components DataStorage.nrw and DataArchive.nrw, which together form a storage infrastructure for research data in NRW through complementary technical implementation.
Further Information
More detailed information on the work and offerings of the state initiative fdm.nrw can be found on the website of fdm.nrw.
If you have any questions regarding FDM topics, the FDM team at RWTH is always happy to assist you. We look forward to hearing from you!
Responsible for the content of this article are Hedda Faber and Arlinda Ujkani. The text was created in cooperation with the state initiative fdm.nrw.
The following sources served as the basis for this post:
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