Artificial Intelligence (AI) activity is spread across many RDA groups and Birds of a Feather (BoF) sessions, often with limited visibility or exchange between them. Ahead of RDA’s 27th Plenary Meeting (P27) in London, the RDA Secretariat and RDA-US are organising two virtual AI Cross-Fertilisation Meetings so this work can connect before it converges in person.
These sessions are partly inspired by the inaugural RDA-US 2026 Cohort: 14 active members, each paired with an experienced RDA-US mentor (6 mentors in total, each guiding 2–3 mentees). Several cohort members are leading AI-related BoFs at the Plenary. The meetings are open to the wider community, not just the cohort.
Without a connecting moment before P27, AI-related efforts across the RDA risk running in parallel rather than in dialogue.
Why Join
Two 1-hour virtual meetings will be held on Zoom before P27 to:
- Give AI-focused RDA BoFs and groups early visibility and exposure ahead of P27
- Connect people doing similar or adjacent work across RDA groups and regions
- Surface overlap between AI-related BoFs and groups, and identify concrete opportunities for collaboration and integration
- Help attendees arrive at P27 already aware of the AI agenda and remit, so London sessions are more dynamic, interactive, and additive
Online Meetings
📆 Meeting 1: Tuesday 8 September, 15:00-16:00 UTC – Register
Covers trust, governance, and standards for AI agents operating in research data workflows, from policy principles through to applied discovery and curation tools.
📆 Meeting 2: Thursday 10 September, 05:00-06:00 UTC – Register
Covers FAIR and AI-readiness across the technical stack, from individual ML models up through runtime environments, software, domain infrastructure, and the global open research commons.
Agenda
Meeting Format
- 5-minute lightning pitches from RDA BoF leads and group representatives
- Structured discussion following the pitches, facilitated on overlap, gaps, and collaboration/integration opportunities
- Collaborative live notes (shared Google Doc) captured throughout, so insights and follow-up actions aren not lost
- Sessions recorded for internal RDA purposes; individual pitch recordings and slides published for wider community access
Meeting Pitches
| RDA BoF / Group | Pitch Title | Invited Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence and Data Visitation (AIDV) WG | From Governance to Deployment: Trust-Centered Strategies for Agentic AI | Seonyoung Kim |
| Beyond the Chatbot BoF | Beyond the Chatbot: Standards for AI Agents in Research Data Workflows | Diana McSpadden / James Cannon |
| VANTAGE WG | Visiting Agent Network & Trusted Access Governance Evaluation | Paty Buendia |
| Data Discovery Paradigms IG | Rethinking Data Discovery: From Keyword Search to AI | Brigitte Mathiak |
| Harnessing Automation BoF | Harnessing automation and AI tools to advance data curation and connect digital research infrastructures | Agnes Jasinska |
Getting Involved
These sessions are open to all and free to attend. Whether you are new to the topic or already exploring AI in your work, this meeting provides an opportunity to learn, ask questions, and help shape the future direction of AI-related work across RDA.
For questions or comments, please contact RDA Community Development Manager, Connie Clare ([email protected]).
AI Cross-Fertilisation Meeting 2
Covers FAIR and AI-readiness across the technical stack, from individual ML models up through runtime environments, software, domain infrastructure, and the global open research commons.
