Research infrastructure uptake, in particular how to define, capture, measure and evaluate the uptake is of interest to many stakeholders (including researchers, funders, policy advocates) across the digital research system.

Key questions we are exploring in this group include:
+ How should we define “uptake” and “Digital Research Infrastructure”?
+ How can uptake be evaluated / assessed in a meaningful way?
++ Categories of possible measures – qualitative output of evaluation, not just quantitative measures – both (qualitative and quantitative are needed)
+ What are the different players’ needs when it comes to documenting / reporting on uptake? How can we balance these needs?
+ What would a typology of Digital Research Infrastructure look like? What would be useful categories in the context of this group?

This IG started out from a BoF session held at RDA Plenary 21 / IDW in Salzburg, Austria, in October 2023, where a number of participants expressed an interest in establishing an RDA group on this topic. The co-chairs created the Interest Group and held a subsequent session at RDA VP22 to discuss key components of the Charter, including the use cases, outputs and outcomes the group wants to work on, and to establish connections with other relevant RDA groups. Following on from the RDA VP22 session, the co-chairs have incorporated the discussion from the VP22 session into a draft Charter, which we are currently validating. We plan to expand the membership and leadership of the group, and to submit the Charter for RDA endorsement in August 2024.

In parallel, we held a BoF session on this topic prior to the RDA P21 session, at eResearch Australasia in Brisbane, Australia, in October 2023, and are planning another BoF on this topic at eResearch Australasia (28 October – 1 November 2024, Melbourne, Australia), with the results feeding into the P23 BoF session.