As 2024 comes to a close, RDA Europe looks back on a year marked by change, growth, stronger partnerships, and a deepened commitment to fostering open science across Europe and beyond. As our young organisation begins to take important steps towards maturity and sustainability, we reflect on the highlights and milestones that shaped our year, and look ahead at what is looking like the busiest year yet with a wealth of collaborations across Europe starting to flourish.
RDA TIGER Strides Ahead
This three year EC-funded project tasked with supporting the important work of RDA Working Groups is preparing to wrap up its second year of operating the RDA TIGER support services. We kept you abreast of our developments as we navigated the year with blogs, Plenary debriefs, webinars and day to day meetings with the community. As we approach the end of 2024, RDA TIGER reflects on the impact that our supported WGs have had in Europe. So in this space I would like to leave you with a thank you to the RDA Community for engaging with our team continuously. 26 WGs are currently being supported by our expert team of science and communications professionals, with more to come in the new year as the results from our recent call for cascade grants are published. For some context, when we set off on this journey to create support services for RDA in 2023 we anticipated a maximum of 15 supported WGs. This is a testament not only to the incredibly hard-working RDA TIGER consortium, but also to the RDA community who leveraged this opportunity to kickstart 14 new WGs, acknowledging the RDA as a valuable platform for collaboration and co-creation.
Strengthening Strategic Alignment with EOSC
The collaboration between RDA Europe and the EOSC Association matured further this year, as the RDA Europe became a full member in acknowledgment of the significant developments underway in the EOSC ecosystem. The interlinking between RDA and EOSC becomes apparent when one attends EOSC community events such as the Symposia and Winter Schools, with multiple RDA Outputs and general RDA community involvement being widely present. Here at RDA Europe we look forward to furthering these connections in 2025 and beyond, and are committed in supporting the valuable and ambitious endeavours of the EOSC-A and the EOSC Federation towards advancing open science and FAIR practices in Europe.
Engaging and Expanding Communities
Our community is at the heart of RDA, and this year we also worked on our strategic priorities to network, develop and advocate for the European RDA communities. We spoke to many of you around the world throughout 2024, in dedicated RDA regional events and webinars, project meetings, and other community gatherings dedicated to advancing and discussing research data practices. From our busy year, I would like to highlight two activities:
RDA TIGER Cross Fertilisation webinar series, which ran during November/December 2024, focussed on knowledge-sharing between RDA TIGER-supported Working Groups across different domains. Each webinar was organised thematically, allowing WGs to share their work with peers and identify common challenges and opportunities for further collaboration. Details and recordings in the links below:
From Frameworks to Action: Lessons from the FAIR-IMPACT co-located workshop at the RDA Plenary. The FAIR-IMPACT workshop in Costa Rica on November 11, 2024, put interoperability frameworks in a global perspective. Moderated by Liise Lehtsalu (RDA Europe), the workshop explored how research infrastructures, projects, and initiatives are approaching interoperability challenges in research commons. Read more.
Snapshots of our wonderful team throughout the year
A final note from Alex Delipalta, RDA AISBL Director
As a final reflection, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the remarkable RDA Europe team. Despite being newly formed in early 2024, this dynamic group has demonstrated a can-do spirit that is truly unmatched, and great dedication to advancing RDA and the research data community. Their efforts have already made a tangible impact on our activities, fostering meaningful collaborations that you will get to hear more about soon!
With such a strong foundation in place, I look forward with great optimism to 2025—a year that promises even greater growth, deeper connections, and many more opportunities for collaboration. Here’s to building on our successes and shaping a brighter future for open science in Europe together!