About Us
About Us
About the RDA

Meet the global community enabling seamless data exchange across disciplines.

How the RDA Works

RDA Foundation

Code of Conduct
Funders

SCOSS Funding

Funders Forum
Governance

An overview of the RDA Governing Boards

Council

Organisational Advisory Board

Regional Advisory Board

Technical Advisory Board

Secretariat

Secretary General
Stakeholders

Discover how the RDA benefits different stakeholder groups including researchers, funders, libraries, industry, and early career professionals.

Early Career Individuals

Build your career through networking, mentorship, and global expert engagement.

Funders and Policy Makers

Enhance research value through international collaboration and adoption of RDA recommendations.

Industry and Private Sector

Collaborate with global data experts to enhance your strategy and organisational goals.

Infrastructures

Develop global data policies and ensure your service compatibility with international research.

Libraries

Expand your research data management role and contribute to global best practices.

Research Performing Organisations

Shape data solutions, access international networks, and enhance your institutional research capabilities.
Strategy

An overview of current and past RDA Strategic plans

Strategic Plan 2024-2028

Strategic Plan 2020-2023

Financial Sustainability
Disciplines

An overview of what the RDA is doing for disciplines

Agricultural Sciences

Engineering & Technology

Humanities

Natural Sciences

Social Sciences

Interdisciplinary Research

RDA Domain Ambassadors
Become a Member
Become a Member
Our Memberships

Read about the 3 different RDA memberships

Individual Membership

Read about and join the RDA as an individual member.

Organisational & Affiliate Membership

Read about and join the RDA as an organisational or affiliate member.

Regional Membership

Read about and join the RDA as a regional member.
Individual Members

Organisational and Affiliate Members
Groups
Groups
Find a Group

Go to the RDA Groups Directory

Find a Working Group

A working group is a time-limited team of experts collaborating to develop tools, standards, and practices for data sharing

Find an Interest Group

Bringing together community experts dedicated to advancing data sharing, exchange, and interoperability, either directly or indirectly

Find Community of Practice

Composed of disciplinary experts who investigate, discuss, and provide knowledge and skills within a specific discipline

Find Historical Group

Completed or withdrawn groups

Find Regional Group

Working areas dedicated to RDA-related activities, updates and events in a particular region
RDA Groups

An overview of the different types of RDA groups

Start a Group

Complete the form to start a new RDA group

Group Completion

Why and how RDA groups are sometimes closed.

Group Chair Responsibilities

All you need to know about being a co-chair of an RDA group. Read before starting a new group.
Working Groups

A summary of Working Groups

Create a Working Group

All details for how to create, join or close an RDA Working Group.

Statement of Work Development

Working Group Statements of Work explained, and expectations of running an RDA WG.
Interest Groups

A summary of Interest Groups

Create an Interest Group

All details for how to create, join or close an RDA Interest Group.
Communities of Practice

A summary of Communities of Practice

Statement of Work Development

All the components for developing a Community of Practice Statement of Work.

Review Process

The steps involved in the review process for an RDA Community of Practice.
About Birds of a Feather (BoF)

Historical Groups
Events
Events
Upcoming Plenaries

RDA's biannual working meetings where the global data community collaborates on data challenges.

27th Plenary Meeting (P27)

In-Person Plenary, 6-8 October 2026. London, UK

28th Plenary Meeting (VP28)

Fully Virtual Plenary, 15-19 March 2027

29th Plenary Meeting [part of International Data Week 2027]
Past Plenaries

Meetings and Events
Outputs and Resources
Outputs and Resources
Recommendations and Outputs

Catalogue

Submission Guidelines

Adoption Stories

Standards
RDA Knowledge Base
The Value of the RDA

Technological, agnostic and policy areas where the RDA adds value

RDA and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

RDA and National Open Science Policies

RDA and Science Policy

RDA and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

RDA and the TRUST Principles
RDA Tiger
News and Media
News and Media

News and Stories

Newsletters
Multimedia

RDA podcasts and videos

Podcast

Browse our podcast series on research data challenges and open data solutions

Video

Watch our videos created by the community to feel the real RDA experience!
Communication Kit

Media Kit

RDA’s branding materials, logos, templates, and other materials to create communication assets on behalf of the RDA

RDA in a Nutshell

Presentation slides summarising RDA's activities and membership statistics, free to download.
Jobs
The Sarah Jones Award

Biannual award recognising exceptional contributions to fostering collaboration in Open Science.

Terms of Reference

Nomination criteria, selection process, timeline, and guidelines for the award.

Remembering Sarah Jones

Community memories and tributes honouring Sarah Jones's contributions to Open Science.

RDA 29th Plenary Meeting [part of International Data Week 2027]

Date

20 – 23 Sep, 2027
Location
Cape Town, South Africa and Virtual (hybrid)

Under the theme ‘Open Data and Open Science for Global Solutions’, the International Data Week 2027 (IDW 2027) will take place on 20-23 September 2027 in Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) in Cape Town, South Africa. It will be organised by the International Science Council’s Committee on Data (CODATA) and World Data System (WDS), and the Research Data Alliance (RDA) including the local hosts, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Department of Science and Innovation.

IDW 2027 will be positioned as a global platform for data-driven discovery through open data and open science. This will be the second IDW hosted in Africa in 10 years after Botswana successfully hosted IDW 2018.

IDW 2027 will combine the RDA 29th Plenary Meeting, the biannual meeting of this international member organisation working to develop and support global infrastructure facilitating data sharing and reuse, and SciDataCon, the scientific conference addressing the frontiers of data in research organised by CODATA and WDS.

IDW 2027 Supported by

IDW 2027 Partnered with

Five editions of IDW have taken place to date:

IDW 2025, 13-16 October 2025, Brisbane, Australia and online; third hybrid IDW attended by 807 global participants.
IDW 2023, 23-26 October 2023, Salzburg, Austria and online; second hybrid IDW attended by 834 global participants.
IDW 2022, 20-23 June 2022, Seoul, South Korea and online; first hybrid IDW attended by 827 global participants.
IDW 2018, 5–8 November 2018, Gaborone, Botswana; attended by 850 global participants.
IDW 2016, 11–17 September 2016, Denver, Colorado, USA; attended by 840 global participants.

For more information on IDW 2027, please contact:

CODATA: Simon Hodson, CODATA Executive Director, [email protected]
RDA: Hilary Hanahoe, RDA Secretary General, [email protected]
WDS: Meredith Goins, WDS Executive Director, [email protected]