Data Steward Career Tracks WG aims to develop a methodology for creating data steward personas as well as sample set of data steward personas that are linked into a sample career track. The WG was endorsed in April 2025 and is currently developing the first phase of its work plan that includes landscape analysis that supports adapting the persona methodology to data stewardship and developing the initial data steward persona methodology, which we plan to test at P25. Other ongoing activities include a Speaker Series to introduce data steward profiles from across the world and communication and outreach efforts aimed at growing and solidifying WG membership.  

Professionalising Data Stewardship IG takes a dual perspective on data stewardship: data stewardship as a service and data stewardship as a career. The Interest Group aims to host discussions, support collaboration, and foster global teams developing resources that aid in the development, recruitment, and training of data stewards.

Engaging Researchers with Data IG: This Interest Group enables the community to exchange best practices and keep each other informed on innovative methods to stimulate researcher engagement with research data. 

https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/data-steward-career-tracks-wg/activity/

https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/professionalising-data-stewardship-ig/activity/

https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/engaging-researchers-data-ig/activity/

Data Steward Career Tracks WG was endorsed in April 2025. The WG emerged from the Professionalising Data Stewardship IG with the aim to build on the  PDS IG surveys/reports around data stewardship service models (2022) and data steward career tracks (2024). The task force to develop the Statement of Work for the Data Steward Career Tracks WG formed in spring 2024; the group organized a very successful Birds of Feather session at P23 in Costa Rica, gaining broad community support for the proposed WG, and submitted its Statement of Work to RDA in January 2025. The WG has started regular meetings with the first months of work focusing on landscape and developing the initial data steward persona methodology, which we plan to test at P25 in Brisbane. 

Professionalising Data Stewardship IG was endorsed in 2020. From 2016-2021, eight areas of interest were identified and advanced by IG members. Progress made in each area varied based on volunteer capacity, interest, and commitment. Initial topics of interest included: 1) a business case for data stewardship, 2) data stewardship terminology, 3) the integration of data stewardship across an organisation, 4) data steward job profiles, 5) training, 6) career tracks, 7) networking and knowledge exchange, and 8) certification. Task group activity occurs between plenaries with varying success depending on the capacity of task team members. Several IG outputs have been recognized as RDA outputs, including the survey report and output data on Current Models of Data Stewardship, Data Stewardship Landscape Initial Report, Data Stewardship Landscape Report Resource Matrix and the What Does a Career Track for Data Stewards Look Like report. In 2025, the PDS IG is launching regular PDS IG Community Meetings aimed at providing a bi-monthly forum of peer-to-peer exchange for data professionals in data steward roles across the globe.  

Engaging Researchers with Data IG: This IG was formally established in 2019. Since then, they have been working on the collection of case studies on virtual engagement of researchers with data which will lend themselves to the development of a toolkit for online engagement. A podcast is currently being produced and aired.