access to research data: action is needed but what action

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access to research data action is needed but
what action
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my story

• Background information SURFfoundation
• initiatives activities
• Accessibility research data
• Importance, urgency and questions
• coherence enhanced publications collaboratories
• Starting points scenarios for the future
• Possible answers
• Conclusion

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some background information

• SURFfoundation
• initiator of innovation in higher education and
  research
• A focus area is scholarly communication
• permanent access to research data, enhanced
  publications collaboratories
• Tried-and-tested SURF method for innovation
  success through co-operation.
• everything done with, for, by staff
  participating institutions on basis of calls for
  tender
• involves carrying out studies, setting up pilots,
  organising small-scale grassroots projects

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my work package

• Research data access
• Relatively small work package as part of
  SURFshare program
• Supporting other work packages
• Deliverables are building blocks to be used by
  universities as a starting point
• Input for new SURF program 2012

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some initiatives

• Tangible building blocks
• 3 projects regarding guidelines for preserving
  research data
• study legal status of raw data
• study organisational aspects of accessibility of
  data
• Study about establishing a data centre
• Research Data Forum
• Co-ordinating Group with representatives from
  most important organisations in the field
• 3 working groups
• legal, technical, data stewardship

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accessibility data

• contradictory picture
• few organisations and few initiatives
• heterogeneous data infrastructure which results
  in many different forms of data networking
  management
• discipline orientated based on existing
  organisations in research environment

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importance

• SURFfoundation stimulates creation of enhanced
  publication
• precondition is availability of data
• SURFfoundation builds collaboratories with
  facilities for creating enhanced publications
• precondition is accessibility of data
• Continuing changes scholarly communication
• Changing role of libraries

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urgency

• Publishers work closely with pamper researchers
• researchers ask for possibilities for storage
  access but who is going to help them
• who wins the battle for the researchers
• Several publishers have adopted data policies
• influence data policies of utmost importance
• ensure that data become stay open data
• How to co-operate with publishers which role
  will both stakeholders play
• how to prevent universities only act as a storage
  medium
• where is point of convergence

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my questions

• How to involve institutions researchers to
  participate
• time, manpower, money and perhaps interest is
  lacking
• a few champions who share data is not enough
• why initiate writing data management plans when
  the actual management is still unclear
• How to change existing attitude regarding
  ownership of data
• How to connect to the international environment

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possible scenarios

• do the absolutely necessary and nothing more
• researchers themselves take care for storage and
  access
• data repositories managed by libraries
• national repositories for different disciplines
• 1 big national domain unspecific data archive
• cloud computing

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possible answers

• starting point researcher controls data
• explicit policies needed with allotting
  responsibilities
• allocation part funding for deposit data data
  management
• accept several layered infrastructure
• collaboratories
• clear arrangements for service providers
• archiving storage on (inter) national level

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conclusion

• data of growing importance in research
  environment
• many initiatives on (inter) national level
• picture activities and roles of stakeholders
  often incomplete
• ambiguity which activities responsibilities
  belong where
• quest which role SURF has to play, what
  initiatives to support, what role universities
  are willing to play how we can do this together

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Thank you for your attention Wilma
Mossink mossink_at_surf.nl www.surf.nl