Introduction

National Data Services (NDS) are a key component of the scientific data landscape. Many of them have been actively involved in the RDA, in activities like  the Global Open Research Commons (GORC) International Model WG. NDSs’ contributions to the GORC International Model (GORC IM) demonstrated that they are organised in different ways and with different aims, depending strongly on the national context in which they operate.

The RDA is the natural venue to enable National Data Services to meet, learn from mutual challenges and exchange ideas about aims, organisation and practices. For these reasons RDA hosted a first incarnation of the National Data Services IG between 2016 and 2019, as described in the historical note below. Since then, new NDS have been established and the context in which they operate has evolved. In addition,  the Global Open Research Commons (GORC) International Model has been developed, and  can serve as a conceptual framework to shape exchanges between NDS. Renewing NDS IG would provide a much needed forum for NDS-specific discussions, and also provide Use cases and requirements for GORC, leading to eventual Recommendations and Outputs.

Historical note

The RDA hosted a National Data Services (NDS) IG from 2016 to 2019. This interest group was intended as a peer support mechanism for exchanging ideas and information between national data services. The focus then moved to the establishment of the Global Open Research Commons (GORC) IG, as explained in a message to the IG members posted in July 2019.

The National Data Services landscape has been significantly evolving since then, for instance with the creation of Digital Research Alliance of Canada in 2019 and of Recherche Data Gouv in France in 2022, whereas the Research Center for Open Science and Data Platform (RCOS) of the Japanese National Institute of Informatics (NII),  the National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System in South Africa (NICIS), which has the Data Intensive Research Initiative of South Africa (DIRISA) among its key areas, and the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) had been created between 2017 and 2019. Several other National Data Services were also presented among the cases studied by the GORC International Model WG.

More recently, the National Data Services cited above expressed  the desire to use the RDA again as a vehicle for networking and learning from each other. They also provided the wide geographical coverage which is required to start an activity in the RDA. Jointly they organised a BoF session National Data Services – Do we want to meet in the RDA at P22 to assess interest in reinitiating the National Data Services IG. The BoF presentations and discussions demonstrated the diversity of the National Data Services landscape and the usefulness of re-establishing a placeholder for the topic in the RDA. The contribution of LA Referencia showed that liaison should be established with relevant regional Global Open Research Commons.

A second BoF session, National Data Services – Activities and Charter, was held during P23. Its main objective was to discuss a draft statement of work. The initial proponents and LA Referencia have been joined by CSC, the Finnish IT Center for Science, DANS, the Dutch national centre of expertise and repository for research data, CRDCN, the Canadian research infrastructure for statistical social and population health studies, and NFDI, the German National Research Data Infrastructure. Potential NDSs from other countries have been identified, and will be contacted as part of the IG renewal.

User scenario(s) or use case(s) the IG wishes to address

User story 1: “I am part of an organisation that aspires to collaborate and form a consortium with other organisations in my country to receive national research infrastructure funds to provide national data services which will allow researchers in our country to access national-scale services and participate in global initiatives.  Who else has done this elsewhere? How can I learn from what other jurisdictions have tried?  What services can we fruitfully offer? Can we leverage work elsewhere? Can we solve common issues jointly?”

User story 2: “As a representative of a national data service, I want to learn from other national data services about implementing the GORC Model effectively. I aim to conduct a gap analysis of our current infrastructure against the GORC Model to identify areas for improvement. Specifically, I want to focus on enhancing our governance structures, rules of participation and access, and interoperability capabilities as outlined in the GORC Model. By collaborating with peers and leveraging the GORC Model’s framework, I hope to develop a roadmap for building a well-functioning national data service that aligns with global best practices and standards.”

There are a variety of suggested topics that have arisen from discussions with various potential members of the IG during its initial and current phases. The core points are that it would be useful to share strategic directions, challenges and best practices based on the diversity of members, e.g.:

• What kind of collaboration, consortia, and governance models do national data services use to organise themselves?
• How are national data services funded and what are their sustainability models?
• What services do national data services typically provide (e.g. data access, data curation, data storage, data computation, data management, data discovery, data registration, training and education, national data policy advocacy)?
• What is the relationship between domain specific vs cross-cutting services?
• Technical and social challenges (and solutions) for national data services.
• What is the relationship with relevant regional GORC and existing thematic / disciplinary infrastructures?
• What are the best instruments to attract contributions and assure widespread participation and usage by researchers (e.g. open calls, infrastructural funds)?

Objectives

The IG’s initial objectives are:

• arrive at and consolidate a common understanding of the scope of national data services
• serve as forum for exchange on best practices
• establish knowledge based on the diversity of NDS
• create an implementation profile for NDS in the GORC IM and in the process, potentially improve the GORC IM with elements gathered through the profile process. (All in collaboration with the GORC II WG)
• liaise with other relevant RDA Groups and identify relevant RDA recommendations and Outputs which could be useful

These objectives will build on the network established in the original NDS IG, and build it based on the increased diversity of the NDS global landscape, as well as the tools and frameworks developed by the GORC groups.

The IG will liaise as well with multinational endeavours and its outcomes will be useful for the regional endeavours in their relationship with their national services/infrastructures.

Participation

Group membership is open to all people and initiatives interested in the topic, in particular to those providing national data services or planning to do so. The IG already gathers a number of national data services from different regions. It will be publicised to others, using in particular the regional knowledge and relationships of its existing members and the mailing lists of GORC IG and WGs.

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This group contributes indirectly to all of the UN SDGs by potentially further enabling interoperability between national data services. More specifically, by fostering robust national data systems, the group can promote better data collection, management, and interoperability. This supports evidence-based policymaking and innovation, which are essential for sustainable industrial and infrastructure development (SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). By promoting interoperable and inclusive research commons, the IG can help reduce disparities in data availability between developed and developing regions. Through frameworks like the GORC International Model, the IG can advocate for governance structures that prioritize inclusivity and equitable participation in global research initiatives (SDG 10 – Reduce Inequality within and among countries). The group can furthermore act as a neutral platform to bring together governments, NGOs, academia, and private stakeholders. This collaboration strengthens global efforts to share best practices, improve cross-border data flows, and harmonize data governance frameworks (SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals).

Outcomes

At the initial stage, the expected IG outcomes closely align with the objectives above:

• Sharing of knowledge and the identification of good practices will be enabled by regular meetings with NDS presentations along a predefined template, based on the GORC model, encompassing the NDS context, governance and activities, and identification of good practices.
• Connections with relevant RDA groups have been established and regular mechanisms are in place to ensure exchange and alignment.
• Complete an NDS implementation profile and ensure that NDS considerations are fully reflected in the GORC IM itself.
• Based on the above activities consider an IG output on “The Value of RDA for National Data Services”.

Mechanism 

We intended to structure discussion based on the GORC Model, e.g. interoperability, governance, finances.

The co-chairs will aim to meet regularly, on a bimonthly basis at the beginning of the IG.

IG meetings will be organised at least quarterly, during and between RDA Plenaries.

IG members will be regularly informed about the IG activities and outcomes, as well as identified RDA Groups on relevant activities.

Each task will have at least one identified person in charge, if possible two to ensure redundancy. Participation will be open to all interested IG members.

The organisation of the task dealing with NDS Modelling will be discussed with the GORC II WG.

Timeline 

Month 1: Identification of volunteers to work on the different tasks/objectives

Month 2: Identification of the person(s) in charge of the different tasks/objectives

Month 3: Start of the tasks

• Regular meetings to share knowledge and gather information of good practices
• Browsing of the RDA list of Groups and list of Recommendations and Outputs to identify relevant ones.

Month 7 or 8 to align with P25:

• Review a draft of the NDS Implementation Profile at P25, possibly in a joint session with the GORC II WG*

Month 10: Decision taken on the production of an “The Value of RDA for National Data Services” document.

*The scheduling of the task dealing with NDS Modelling will be established in collaboration with the GORC II WG.

Potential Group Members 

(Include proposed chairs/initial leadership and all members who have expressed interest):

Proposed Co-chairs:

• • Natalie Harrower (CRDCN)
  • Bernhard Miller (NFDI)
  • Andrew Treloar (ARDC)

The following National Data Services have expressed their willingness to participate in the IG to date:

• • Australia: Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC)
  • Canada: Digital Research Alliance of Canada and Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN)
  • Finland: CSC – IT Center for Science
  • France: Recherche Data Gouv
  • Germany: National Research Data Infrastructure. (NFDI)
  • Japan: Research Center for Open Science and Data Platform (RCOS)
  • The Netherlands:  DANS
  • South Africa: Data Intensive Research Initiative of South Africa (DIRISA)

Regional network

• • LA Referencia

Individuals who have expressed interest: