13 FEB 2024
Collaborative session notes https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ijrgTIRPi224xPbN1qdAyG0H9UaSXOlIMefMhpE837k/edit?usp=drive_link
Group(s) submitting the application:
Meeting objectives:
FAIR Digital Objects (FAIR DOs) describe a concept of virtual data objects that has been developed and used by RDA in various Working and Interest Groups. FAIR DOs may represent data, software, or other research resources. They are uniquely identified by a Persistent Identifier (PID) and metadata rich enough to enable them to be reliably found, used and cited.
FAIR DOs are currently discussed world-wide, in many RDA groups, in the European Open Science Cloud, the FDO Forum https://fairdo.org, as well as in other initiatives with the need to design and develop large integrative research data infrastructures to facilitate findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability (FAIR).
Until recently most of the conversations and communications about FAIR DOs have been happening between experts, with only a limited number of events (workshops and webinars) targeting researcher and data management audiences at large. To broaden and amplify the efforts to make FAIR DOs a usable and effective part of research data management activities across disciplines, our RDA group has started to work with creating training materials that introduce related concepts and ideas to newcomers.
As part of this initiative, we would like to organise a working meeting session, focussed on better understanding these interested, but not-yet-expert, audiences’ needs for information and knowledge transfer about FDOs. In order to leverage the vast experience and creativity of the participants (usually including many curious newcomers, all most welcome), the session will be very interactive with several breakouts collecting FDO-related questions that should be answered, and starting to sketch out the formats and contents of the most effective training materials and communication channels. We are inviting everyone interested to join us & contribute!
Meeting agenda:
- Introduction to IG FAIR Digital Object Fabric [ <IG co-chair>, 10 min]
- Encouraging uptake of FDOs by researchers – what is required? [ <IG co-chair>, 10 mins]
- Brief overview of FDO training & outreach activities up to date [ <IG co-chair> 5 mins]
- Introducing interactive breakout sessions [ <IG co-chair>, 5 mins]
- Breakout round 1: building a bank of questions relevant to end users [20 mins]
- Breakout round 2: identify ways & means to respond to these questions [20 mins]
- Summaries of the breakout outcomes [15 mins]
- Wrap-up and outlook [5 mins]
The breakout participants will be collaborating on documents and surveys; the input we received will be summarised into a report to be presented at a regular group meeting after the summer & shared via our RDA web page wiki.
Target Audience:
- newcomers who want to sneak in and to learn something and
- our reliable RDM and FAIR DO Fabric veterans
We note that over the years, our sessions are typically visited by many newcomers who are not yet members of our IG. More often than not, this part of the audience provides us with extremely valuable insights, ideas & feedback, and we are hoping this Plenary is no different as we’re planning for a lively interactive session!
Group chair serving as contact person:
Brief introduction describing the activities and scope of the group:
The group emerged from the original Data Fabric IG, changing focus to encompass the recent developments of the FAIR Digital Object (FDO) concept and the various technical components and services needed to implement FDOs in the day-to-day practices of research data management.
Working with large volumes of data in the many scientific labs and most probably also in other areas such as industry and governance is highly inefficient and too costly. Scientists working on data-intensive research tasks are forced to spend about 75% of their time to manage, find, combine and curate data – a real waste of time and capacity. Of special importance is to encourage researchers and their institutions to get started with “data fabrics” in the labs to organize, document, and manage data professionally, so that research can meet the requirements of the coming decades, not the least those from increased use of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.
We aim to be a platform for open and constructive exchange of knowledge, views and new ideas on FDOs between experts and newcomers alike. To this end, apart from participating in Plenaries we hold regular (monthly) telcos alternating between “project shares” where invited speakers present their experiences with implementing FDOs in their research context, and “working meetings” with interactive discussions focussing on a given FDO Fabric-related topic, such as available tools or training efforts. With these activities, we also strive to help place current RDA activities in the overall landscape, to look at what other communities are doing in this area, and to foster testing and adoption of RDA outputs.
Short Group Status:
The group is active and aligned with external efforts in FAIR DO communities. We’re meeting regularly to exchange information about FAIR Digital objects, see: https://www.rd-alliance.org/group/data-fabric-ig/wiki/monthly-meetings
Type of Meeting:
Working meeting
Additional links to informative material:
Seminal report, introducing FAIR DOs:
European Commission (2018). Turning FAIR into reality. Final report and action plan from the European Commission expert group on FAIR data. Luxembourg: European Commission. https://doi.org/10.2777/1524
Some related RDA groups & outputs:
DA DFT Group: DFT Core Terms and Model; http://hdl.handle.net/11304/5d760a3e-991d-11e5-9bb4-2b0aad496318
RDA DTR Group: Data Type Registry; https://www.rd-alliance.org/group/data-type-registries-wg/outcomes/data-…
RDA PID Kernel Information Working Group: Recommendation on PID Kernel Information; https://www.rd-alliance.org/group/pid-kernel-information-wg/outcomes/rec…
RDA FAIR4ML Group: Call Minutes; https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Af3KE-i7aXkMw_pYmAlTVLZnS97ruduo7zR7jVzIr98/edit#heading=h.dz7qsqzd88qu
IG FAIR DO Fabric:
Collection of information about FAIR Digital Objects:
FAIR DO Publications (https://www.zotero.org/groups/2517421/fair_digital_objects/collections/E5CWSWB3 )
FAIR DO: RDA Recommendations & Outputs (https://www.zotero.org/groups/2517421/fair_digital_objects/collections/K2LCLTIU)
Project shares:
Avoid conflict with the following group (1):
Avoid conflict with the following group (2):
Meeting presenters:
Lori Chen, Zachary Trautt, Maggie Hellström & training expert(s) to be confirmed to facilitate work in the breakouts & discussions
Contact for group (email):
Please indicate at least (3) three breakout slots that would suit your meeting.:
- Breakout 2
- Breakout 4
- Breakout 7
- Breakout 8
- Breakout 9
- Breakout 11
- Breakout 12
Are you willing to host a second, repeat, session at a different time zone?:
No