March Newsletter - VP17, Remembering Dr. Peter Fox, WDS Transition, RDA Recommendations, IDW Updates and more!
Virtual Plenary 17 is Two Weeks Away!
Have you registered yet? If not, remember that early bird registration closes 2 April. Register now to secure the reduced rate!
The Final Programme has now been published on the website. Highlights include:
- Keynote presentations from:
- Dr Jeni Tennison of the Open Data Institute (Tues, 20 April)
"Research Data in the Wider Data Ecosystem"
- Professor Richard Gold from McGill University, Centre for Intellectual Property (Thurs, 22 April)
“Open Science and Drug Discovery: Removing Barriers to Accelerate Research"
- Dr Susan K. Gregurick from the National Institute of Health (Thurs, 22 April)
“Building a Robust FAIR Biomedical Data Ecosystem"
- Dr Jeni Tennison of the Open Data Institute (Tues, 20 April)
- More than 90 breakout sessions
- A Joint IDCC/RDA Unconference (Tues, 20 April)
- RDA Outputs and Adoption Session (Wed, 21 April) - Deviating slightly from adoption sessions at earlier plenaries, this one will highlight the RDA’s strategic plan and priorities for the next decade, provide an update on its engagement with the SDGs, and highlight the role that the new group type, Communities of Practice, will play in the future of RDA
- A Panel Session titled “Facilitating Greater Data Reuse: Lessons and Examples from Practice”, featuring: Amy Pienta, ICPSR; Malarvizhi Veerappan, World Bank; Vundli Ramokolo, South African Medical Research Council; James Hetherington, The Alan Turing Institute
- Poster and Networking Sessions each day of the event
- An extensive schedule of co-located events, taking place the days before and after the RDA Plenary
VP17 Social Events
We may not be able to fly you to Edinburgh for VP17, but we are bringing Scotland to your living room! The RDA VP17 organisers have planned a number of social activities to introduce you to the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, teach you the basics of Scots language (it will be just like you're here!), as well as much Ceilidh dancing, as promised!
- Whit is Scots? - An introduction: Join us for a short introduction to Scots, one of the three native languages spoken in Scotland today. This session will introduce Scots and teach you some basic phrases that you can show off on your next trip to Scotland!
- RDA meets Edinburgh Fringe - Stuart Goldsmith: Get a taste of Edinburgh Fringe with our lunch time comedy set by Stuart Goldsmith. Stuart has been performing at the Edinburgh Fringe for years and we are looking forward to providing you with some laughter as a side to your lunch!
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Ceilidh Lessons: Put on your dancing shoes and join us for a virtual ceilidh! This session will feature ceilidh couple dances and we will talk you through dancing along for your daily exercise. You can also just join us to listen to some traditional ceilidh music.
Are you New to RDA?
If you are new to RDA and not yet familiar with our bi-annual plenaries and/or our organisation, we are holding several 'RDA for Newcomers' sessions in April, prior to VP17. We highly recommend you consider attending a session, meet some of our members and learn how best to maximize your membership as a whole, as well as during our upcoming meeting.
- Thursday, 8 April 2021 06:00-07:30 UTC
- Tuesday, 13 April 2021 16:00-17:30 UTC
- Monday 19 April, 13:00 UTC (French version) 13:00 UTC
Register on the RDA VP17 registration page. Please click on 'tickets' and select 'La RDA pour les Nouveaux Venus-RDA for Newcomers".
Plenary Pathways now Available
In order to guide participants through the rich diversity of topics that the plenary presents, the RDA TAB organised the Plenary sessions along eight pathways to enhance the plenary experience. Find your pathway at VP17.
Remembering Dr. Peter Fox
A Titan in the Earth Science Informatics Community, a Former RDA TAB Member
With heavy hearts, we relay the shocking, sad news shared by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Sunday: Dr. Peter Fox died on March 27, 2021. The Earth and space science informatics community lost a titan. We want to express our condolences to his partner, Erica Veil, his family, and his colleagues at RPI Tetherless World Constellation (TWC) including his current and past research group members and all of his collaborators. Read more.
Oak Ridge Institute at the University of Tennessee: New Host of WDS International Programme Office
The International Science Council (ISC) and its World Data System (WDS) recently announced Oak Ridge Institute at the University of Tennessee (ORI at UT) as the new host of the WDS International Programme Office (WDS-IPO). A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the ISC and ORI at UT for an initial five-year period from 1 April 2021. During the last 10 years, WDS-IPO was supported by the Japanese government—through its National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)—and the Science Council of Japan.
WDS is an Affiliate Member of RDA since 2014 and we have an excellent working relationship. We grateful for the synergies created through numerous initiatives, including but not limited to, International Data Week held in 2016 and 2018, those planend for 2021 and 2023 as well as the recent Data Together initiatives. We are also especially appreciative of Rorie Edmunds, Executive Director for WDS-IPO, who played an integral and driving role in all joint activities with RDA.
"It has been such a pleasure to work with Rorie for many years. I have always appreciated his attention to detail, his diligence and his genuine kindness. On behalf of RDA, I wish him well for this new professional chapter in his life, hoping that he will still stay involved with RDA", Hilary Hanahoe, RDA Secretary General.
We look forward to further collaborations with WDS-IPO and ORI at UT in the upcoming years. Read the announcement from WDS-IPO.
RDA Financial Sustainability Task Force (FSTF)
The RDA Strategic Plan 2020 - 2023 is now being rolled out for implementation. It is essential to align the strategic plan with a concrete growth and sustainability plan. In November 2020, RDA Council established a short term RDA task force focusing on the identification of appropriate and achievable revenue models for RDA, aligning financial strategies and plans with the strategic focus for 2021-2023, and engagement with regional offices to align revenue and business models. The Task Force will report to and engage with the RDA community on progress, proposals and findings. The first interaction will be during the RDA Outputs and Adoption Plenary Session on Wednesday, 21 April 2021 (08:00 - 09:30 UTC). The FSTF is described at https://www.rd-alliance.org/about-rda/organisational-bodies/rda-council/rda-council-subgroups
Data Together: Fostering Cooperation Among Open Science Platforms (March 2021)
Collectively referred to as Data Together, the four collaborating international data organisations—CODATA, GO FAIR, RDA, WDS—have a joint commitment to work together to optimise the global research data ecosystem and identify opportunities that will trigger federated infrastructures to service the new reality of data-driven science.
Both RDA and CODATA have major initiatives to work with the development of such open research infrastructures: RDA’s Global Open Research Commons (GORC), developed in collaboration with the WDS, and CODATA’s Global Open Science Cloud (GOSC). These came out of a series of meetings held at RDA Plenaries, International Data Week, CODATA Conferences and the FAIR Convergence Symposium, and ultimately include all the Data Together organisations as partners. The GORC and GOSC initiatives aim to encourage cooperation, alignment and interoperability among these infrastructures.
This latest document outlines how the RDA Global Open Research Commons (GORC) and Global Open Science Cloud (GOSC) fit together within the framework of the Data Together Collaboration. Learn more.
The TRUST Principles
Within the last year, an RDA community effort led to the development and publication of the article, “The TRUST Principles for digital repositories” in Nature Research’s Scientific Data. These principles offer guidance for maintaining the trustworthiness of digital repositories, especially those responsible for the stewardship of research data. The TRUST Principles have already been endorsed by a variety of organizations that are committed to the stewardship of digital resources and, in particular, digital research data. Some of the organizations that already have endorsed the TRUST Principles have offered statements to support their endorsements. In just this past month, IASSIST (International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology), Stanford Libraries have been added as endorsers.
To endorse the TRUST Principles please contact enquiries{at}rd-alliance.org.
2-Day Workshop: Changing The Culture Of Data Management And Sharing
The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will convene a two-day virtual public workshop from 28-29 April to discuss the challenges and opportunities for researchers, institutions, and funders to establish effective data management and sharing practices. The objective of the workshop is to examine strategies, resources, and promising practices for developing and evaluating data management and sharing plans, as well as to discuss how researchers can effectively share scientific data over the course of the data life cycle. Numerous RDA members are participating in the workshop, including organizer Maryann Martone, presenter and RDA Council member Robert Hanisch, and presenter and RDA-US Executive Director Rebecca Koskela. Learn more information about the workshop, including registration details.
International Data Week and Plenary 18
The International Science Council’s Committee on Data (CODATA) and World Data System (WDS), and the Research Data Alliance (RDA) are delighted to announce that the 2021 edition of International Data Week (IDW 2021) will be held on 8–11 November 2021 in Seoul, South Korea.
Latest Updates:
- To maximise participation, and in response to ongoing travel restrictions, the event will be organised in an innovative hybrid format, with both in person and virtual participation.
- Sponsorship Packages Now Available
- Deadline extended to 30 April: Call for Sessions SciDataCon 2021
- “Introducing IDW 2021” – Webinar Recording Now Available
SAVE THE DATE: International Data Week 2023: A Festival of Data, 23–26 October 2023, Salzburg, Austria
The International Science Council’s Committee on Data (CODATA) and World Data System (WDS), and RDA have announced International Data Week 2023: A Festival of Data, taking place on 23–26 October 2023, in Salzburg, Austria. Learn more.
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