Highlights from the RDA’s 25th Plenary [part of International Data Week 2025]
We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who took part in the Research Data Alliance 25th Plenary Meeting (RDA P25) [part of International Data Week 2025]. Under the theme ‘Data for positive change: Empowering communities and advancing research’, IDW 2025 took place on 13–16 October 2025, in Brisbane, Australia and virtually.
IDW 2025 combined the Research Data Alliance 25th Plenary Meeting and SciDataCon2025, organised by International Science Council’s Committee on Data (CODATA) and World Data System (WDS).
Over 800 international attendees joined IDW 2025 which was exceptionally delivered by the local hosts, Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), Australia’s leading research data infrastructure organisation, along with local partners the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane Economic Development Agency, Business Events Australia and Tourism and Events Queensland.
Read on for highlights of the key takeaways from RDA P25 [part of IDW 2025].
Over four days, RDA P25 held almost 50 breakout sessions coordinated by various RDA groups and individual members, and over 60 posters were presented by RDA data professionals from around the globe.
Day 1 Highlights
RDA P25 [part of IDW 2025] explored innovative ways to leverage data to empower communities, fostering collaboration between researchers, policymakers, business, and local stakeholders. “A simple thing: everyone in this room is facing the same global challenges, and that inspires me. We come together to share, learn, connect and advance the data journey to solve the big challenges.” – Rosie Hicks, (ARDC) mentioned to all attendees during the opening session.
RDA Groups Work – Breakout Sessions
Sixteen RDA Groups held sessions on day one to further their work, with four Birds of a Feather sessions organised to gauge interest in a potential new RDA Group topic:
RDA’s exhibition stand
RDA Secretariat hosted an exhibition stand where existing members, newcomers, and prospective members could learn more about the organisation. With more than 100 active groups, RDA is driven by the vision of enabling researchers and innovators to openly share and re-use data across technologies, disciplines, and countries to address the grand challenges of society. Not a member yet? Join the RDA today!
Early Careers Session
The Early Careers ‘Pitch Your Research’ competition was a highlight of Day 1! Participants got an insider’s look at the three IDW organising partners, CODATA, WDS, and RDA, followed by a series of inspiring 3-minute lightning pitches from brilliant early career researchers who are shaping the future of research.
Poster Exhibition
The first day concluded with a poster reception where delegates networked over drinks and explored more than 130 posters, 60 of them presented by RDA members! View the full list of RDA P25 digital posters.
Day 2 Highlights
Day 2 of the 25th RDA Plenary Meeting, as part of IDW 2025, opened with the plenary session ‘The Global Impact of the RDA’. RDA Secretary General Hilary Hanahoe introduced the session, which was designed to highlight RDA’s diverse impacts and outputs, emphasising the organisation’s bottom-up, global, collaborative approach to creating accessible data-sharing solutions.
RDA Organisational Assembly Members Connect and Collaborate!
A networking session was held where RDA Organisational Assembly members shared successes, discussed challenges, and explored collaboration opportunities. RDA Organisational Members represent their interests and ensure that their input and needs play a role in guiding the programmes and activities of the RDA. Learn more about becoming an RDA Organisational Member.
Recognising Excellence in Open Science – The Sarah Jones Award
2024 winner of the ‘The Sarah Jones Award for exceptional contribution to fostering collaboration in Open Science‘ Aleksandra Lazic discussed opportunities the award brought her, including speaking engagements and a Nature article, while announcing the opening of nominations for the next edition. Nominate a candidate.
The Global Open Research Commons – Overview and Use Cases
CJ Woodford presented the GORC model’s background and development, a hexagon-based typology (white for human elements, blue for infrastructure) that became an RDA Recommendation in 2024. Andrew Treloar demonstrated how organizations are using the model to improve their operations. Mikiko Tanifuji shared insights from Japan on international implementation. Learn more here.
Agentic AI and the Future of Research Collaboration
Microsoft and RDA announced a new initiative exploring how AI can support scientific research, with a community consultation planned for November 2025.
New Frontiers in Data Citation: Complex Citations Working Group
Introduction of the Complex Citation Object (CCO), a new DOI type designed to properly credit complex research outputs like datasets, software, and images across multiple objects.
Strengthening the RDA Community: The TIGER Project
Updates on the EC-funded TIGER Project, which supports RDA through working group facilitation, expert funding, and the new RDA Knowledge Base for better discoverability of outputs.
Day 3 Highlights
Day three of the RDA P25 [part of IDW 2025] featured strategic discussions with the RDA Technical Advisory Board (TAB), updates from the Funders Forum, and in-depth sessions on AI policy and research assessment reform, showcasing the breadth of RDA’s global initiatives.
Technical Advisory Board (TAB) Meets Co-Chairs Meet up
RDA Group co-chairs met with Technical Advisory Board (TAB) members for discussions. TAB provides technical expertise to the RDA Council and supports the development and review of RDA Working & Interest Groups and Communities of Practice.
RDA Funders Forum Update
The Research Data Alliance convened its Funders Forum, organisations which gathered to discuss research data and policy development. Updates included the new Microsoft agentic AI collaboration, national PID strategies from Australia and Canada, and ORCID integration.
Spotlight On: Bridging AI international policy and practice
The session introduced the outputs and recommendations from the Artificial Intelligence and Data Visitation (AIDV) Working Group, focusing on the DV4RDA project. This RDA TIGER-funded initiative creates a framework for data visitation technologies, helping researchers navigate legal, regulatory, and technological challenges in data sharing.
CoARA Boost Project roundtable
RDA Europe participated in discussions about research assessment reform and the CoARA Ethics and Research Integrity Policy (ERIP) Working Group. The focus was on harmonizing work across regions, including the upcoming CoARA Boost project launching with a November webinar.
Day 4 Highlights
RDA P25 [part of IDW 2025] participants gathered for a final day filled with collaboration, reflection, and inspiration. From dynamic RDA group sessions 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 working and interest groups presented their work alongside four Birds of a Feather (BoF) sessions proposing new topics for potential future groups:
- Balancing Ethical Considerations and Open Science Principles: Identified over 20 risks in ethical data sharing, particularly affecting Indigenous and vulnerable communities.
- Governance of Digital Twins in Human Biology and Health: Highlighted RDA TIGER’s role as a catalyst for the BIDT Working Group’s success.
- A Framework for Assessing the Value of Research Data: Discussed whether research data have inherent or usage-dependent value, exploring both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
- Towards Reproducible and Transparent Computational Modelling: Explored creating a new Working Group focused on enhancing reproducibility and transparency in health research computational models.
Final Plenary session – ‘Empowering the Global Data Community for Impact, Equity and Inclusion’ featured global perspectives on inclusivity and equity
Nokuthula Mchunu, the director within the International Grants and Partnerships Division of the NRF, reflected on challenges around authorship and representation in data, outlining initiatives to reduce barriers to Open Science in Africa.
Sandra Collins, the director of the University College Dublin Library, discussed efforts to improve national archives to better represent women, sharing examples from Ireland such as the National Folklore Collection.
Rodrigo Roa, the executive director of the Chile’s Data Observatory, presented LatamGPT, a regional AI model reflecting Latin American cultural and linguistic nuances.
Devika Madalli introduced India’s One Nation, One Subscription initiative for universal access to scholarly research, addressing language, financial, and geographic disparities
Session Recordings and Presentation Materials
Session recordings are available through the IDW 2025 App to all registered attendees: navigate to Programme > Session of interest > click ‘Watch On Demand’ button.
RDA P25 sessions presentation slides will be available to the RDA community on this page on 2nd December 2025.
Session recordings will be made publicly available in January 2026.
IDW 2025 Photos!
The stories, smiles and standout moments of IDW 2025 are ready to relive! Explore the Photo Gallery professionally captured by Marc Grimwade.
Read more details on daily highlights here.
