Four major international data organizations join forces to optimize the research data ecosystem, launching a COVID-19 appeal as their first joint action

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a major test for our science system and for our research and data infrastructures.  These infrastructures, such as open science clouds and data commons, must serve the needs of science, policy, and humanity not only in ‘normal times’, but also in times of crisis by providing controlled access to quality data in real time and at scale for a range of scientific- and policy-related responses.

Four major international data organizations have outlined their joint commitment to work together to optimize the global research data ecosystem and to identify the opportunities and needs that will trigger federated infrastructures to service the new reality of data-driven science. The organizations include:

• CODATA, the Committee on Data of the International Science Council. CODATA’s mission is to connect data and people to advance science and improve our world;
• World Data System, a research programme of the International Science Council that enables data repositories to use infrastructure and protocols that ensure long term custody of data, and to define services and resources that achieve greater interoperability between repositories and applications that consume data;
• Research Data Alliance, a global, consensus-based, community-driven organisation of over 10,000 individual and institutional members from 144 countries whose mission is to provide a platform to drive innovation surrounding data sharing and interoperability and
• Global Open FAIR, a global initiative of community-driven implementation networks that enable data-related agreements, data services and protocols that support FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) sharing and reuse of data and related tools.

The four organizations, known as Data Together have released a statement regarding COVID-19, calling on the data community to unite existing initiatives and accelerate the development of core services to help meet the current crisis. In the statement, Data Together says “We must manage expectations and be clear on the limitations of what can be achieved. At the same time, it is essential to rise to the challenge and ensure that what is implemented for COVID-19 is sustainable and scalable”. Read the full statement here.

The Data Together organizations will also jointly work on the following activities and invite all to contribute:

1. Data Together–GO FAIR Virus Outbreak Data Network (VODAN)
2. The Data Together–RDA COVID-19 Working Group 
3. CODATA ‘Making Data Work for Cross-Domain Grand Challenges’ for launch in 2021

For further information on how to contribute to Data Together, click here.

Image by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash