As International Data Week 2025 drew to a close, participants gathered for a final day filled with collaboration, reflection, and inspiration. From dynamic RDA Breakout and Birds of a Feather sessions to thought-provoking plenaries, Day 4 showcased the strength and diversity of the global data community — united in advancing open, ethical, and inclusive data practices.
RDA Breakout Sessions
Fourteen RDA Groups took to the stage on Day 4 to further their work and present their outputs to the global RDA community. There were also four Birds of a Feather (BoF) sessions, where new topics for possible future RDA Interest or Working Groups were proposed:
- Balancing Ethical Considerations and Open Science Principles: Participants identified over 20 risks associated with ethical data sharing, including stigmatisation, privacy breaches, retraumatisation, loss of sovereignty, and exploitative practices — particularly affecting Indigenous and vulnerable communities.
- Governance of Digital Twins in Human Biology and Health: This session highlighted the pivotal role of RDA TIGER as a catalyst for the BIDT Working Group, with strong appreciation for the facilitation support that contributed to its success.
“RDA TIGER has been a real catalyst for the BIDT WG…we would not have been so successful without the help from our Facilitator.”
- A Framework for Assessing the Value of Research Data: A lively discussion examined whether research data have inherent value or whether their value depends on usage. Both intrinsic factors (such as reliability and uniqueness) and extrinsic factors (like relevance and innovation) were discussed, with enthusiasm for forming a potential Interest Group.
- Towards Reproducible and Transparent Computational Modelling in Health and Biomedical Research: This BoF session explored forming a new Working Group dedicated to enhancing reproducibility, transparency, and accessibility in computational models for health research.
Final Plenary Session – Empowering the Global Data Community for Impact, Equity and Inclusion
The closing plenary of IDW2025 highlighted global perspectives on inclusivity, accessibility, and equity in data and knowledge sharing.
Sandra Collins discussed efforts to improve national archives to better represent women, sharing examples from Ireland such as the National Folklore Collection.
“The women are there in the data, but if they are not catalogued, you can’t see them.”
Nokuthula Mchunu reflected on challenges around authorship and representation in data, stating, “We’re the data points, but rarely the authors, rarely the funders.” She outlined initiatives to reduce barriers to Open Science in Africa and the challenges that remain, noting that small data sets from minority languages make training models difficult or impossible.
Rodrigo Roa presented Chile’s Data Observatory, which focuses on large-scale data management to support evidence-based public policy and technological development. He described LatamGPT, a regional AI model designed to reflect Latin America’s cultural, religious, and linguistic nuances.
Devika Madalli spoke about India’s One Nation, One Subscription initiative, which seeks to provide universal access to scholarly research e-journals from major publishers across all disciplines. She discussed how the programme aims to overcome challenges related to language, financial disparities, and geography in offering a “one size fits all” approach to scholarly publishing in India.
Thank you – see you at the next one!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 25th RDA Plenary Meeting, as part of International Data Week 2025. Whether you took part online or in-person in Brisbane, we sincerely hope you enjoyed the event. Weren’t able to join us this time? Read on to learn about upcoming Plenary Meetings, and how you can get involved:
RDA 26th Plenary Meeting (virtual)
- The RDA 26th Plenary Meeting will take place fully virtually under the theme ‘Data continuity for research resilience’, from 16-20 March 2026.
- Are you interested in holding a session at the RDA’s 26th Plenary? The Call for proposals is open until 14 November 2025! Both RDA Groups and individual members are invited to submit their sessions. Submit a session.
RDA 27th Plenary Meeting (in-person)
- The Research Data Alliance 27th Plenary Meeting (P27) will take place in London, United Kingdom as an in-person event. P27 will be hosted by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) at the Oval cricket ground, a unique and versatile conference venue. Watch this space for more information on registrations and call for sessions, or view the entire Plenary timeline.
IDW 2027 in Cape Town, South Africa
- Enjoyed your IDW experience? Joins us for the next edition which will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 20 – 23 September 2027. Learn more and keep up to date with all the updates, here.
Read all IDW2025 Daily Highlights
RDA Groups Accelerating Global Data Sharing | RDA P25 Day 3 Highlights
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The Global Impact of the RDA | RDA P25 Day 2 Highlights
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Welcome to the RDA 25th Plenary Meeting in Brisbane, Australia | RDA P25 Day 1 Highlights
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