Global Open Research Commons IG update and GORC International Model WG: Reflections and Document Development

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12 Feb 2022
Group(s) submitting the application: 
Meeting objectives: 

The GORC International Model WG works under the umbrella of the  Global Open Research Commons (GORC) IG. Both entities are working towards a roadmap for the integration of research services in pursuit of cross-country and cross-discipline global open research commons. The WG’s goal is to evaluate and recommend a model for functions/attributes for global research commons that allows researchers and developers to coordinate services and create roadmaps for international interoperability. In pursuit of this goal the WG has instituted a speaker series where representatives of Commons from around the world share the current state and vision of their initiatives with the WG. As a first step towards the WG deliverables, we have been developing a narrative document in parallel with the speaker series. Often referred to as the “martyr document,” it contains descriptions of functions and attributes of different commons.  

Between Feb and June of 2022 the WG was addressed by representatives from at least 3 Commons: the NII in Japan, the EOSC and the Australian Research Data Commons. In light of this, the GORC Model WG meeting at P19 will serve a dual purpose: a short recap on the purpose and progress of the GORC IG followed by recap of the speaker series presentations that immediately precede P19. The recap of the speakers will occupy the bulk of the meeting and will be an opportunity for members of the WG to give feedback and provide live edits to the martyr document.

The attendees of the GORC Benchmarking WG at P17 agreed to the general purpose and approach to the work proposed by the WG leads. Subsequent to P17, approximately 29 individuals joined the WG. We held our first regular meeting in June of 2021 to respond to Council’s feedback to the WG Case statement. It was informative feedback and it helped us better define the meaning of benchmarks. Moreover, it provided the opportunity to clarify our role in the community, not as evaluators or an organization that seeks to certify commons, but rather supporting commons developers who are creating interoperable services. Further refinements were made based on feedback from RDA Council, resulting in the name change to GORC-IM WG.

In addition to initiating the speaker series, between the end of July 2021 and P18 we made decisions about the form of the deliverable for the WG. The GORC-IM WG meeting at P18 was a standard working meeting where members met and discussed potential model elements and details. Anyone who is interested but not yet involved in the WG can see the process in action and provide an opportunity for the WG to be transparent about the state of our deliverables. We also created a standard questionnaire that we are asking all speakers to answer; this questionnaire includes questions around their roles and missions, the scope and services they provide, how they measure success, cybersecurity, social & organizational constructs and the current state and future vision of their commons. The questionnaire forms an important intelligence gathering mechanism for the group. 

The objective of this meeting will be:

  1. Recap and discuss refinements to the WG Case Statement submission and approval process 

  2. Review the status of deliverables

  3. Determine next steps

Meeting agenda: 

Collaborative session notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ti7J1irMwD3xrPLHZRDKBzQZKko_ptdtjgi2...

  • Welcome and icebreakers (10 mins)

  • Introduction to meeting and previous work (10 mins) - Mark Leggott 

    • Take away messages from P18

    • Review and update from the IG: Socialisation/explanation of new diagram and associated definitions

  • Speaker series recap and live document development - Karen Payne

    • NII Cloud (15 minutes)

    • EOSC (15 minutes)

    • ARDC (15 minutes)

    • Open discussion on any other portions of the martyr document (15 min)

  • Next steps (10 mins) - Mark Leggott

GORC IG Co-chairs Andrew Treloar and  Sarah Jones will step in and lead sessions where Karen and Mark are not available.

Target Audience: 

Working group members: Research funders, infrastructure providers and data services active in delivering Research / Data Commons initiatives

Group chair serving as contact person: 
Brief introduction describing the activities and scope of the group: 

The GORC International Model WG works under the umbrella of the  Global Open Research Commons (GORC) IG. Both entities are working towards a roadmap for the integration of research services in pursuit of cross-country and cross-discipline global open research commons. The WG’s goal is to evaluate and recommend a model for functions/attributes for global research commons that allows researchers and developers to coordinate services and create roadmaps for international interoperability. In addition, when possible, the group is capturing KPIs or metrics that can be used to track engagement or success of services provided by Commons. In pursuit of this goal the WG has instituted a speaker series where representatives of Commons from around the world share the current state and vision of their initiatives with the WG. As a first step towards the WG deliverables, we have been developing a narrative document in parallel with the speaker series. Often referred to as the “martyr document,” it contains descriptions of functions and attributes of different commons.  

Short Group Status: 

As a BoF this group submitted an original case statement to the TAB in early January 2021. The WG was endorsed by RDA on July 30, 2021. The group has been meeting monthly since the group’s first regular session on  June 17, 2021.

Type of Meeting: 
Working meeting
Avoid conflict with the following group (1): 
Avoid conflict with the following group (2): 
Meeting presenters: 
Karen Payne, Mark Leggott, Andrew Treloar and Sarah Jones