eRA 2021 BoF - Supporting data life cycles at the macro scale

Many advances have been made over the last fifteen years in the quality and accessibility of our research data. Efforts are now underway around managing our research data as an asset. We can see a national research data system arising, in which researchers, research communities and institutions all play a key role.

Notably, fifteen years ago, when we moved to adopt Research Data Management Plans (RDMPs), there were few institutional, national or commercial services that could support research data life cycles. Today a growing suite of options exist. As such services develop and become commonplace, it is time to rethink ‘who does what’.

RDMPs could be reimagined as a map laying out which components of a project’s data will be directed to which available services. Of course a suitable set of services would need to exist along with an agreement driving their harmonisation and policy coherence. The services would implement life cycle management.

This BOF brings together several efforts that are underway enabling this trajectory. Each of which is a work in progress that contributes to understanding a future national data system that can support data life cycles at the macro scale.

• The Institutional Underpinning framework development (ARDC)
• Estimating the scale of data under management, its growth and costs (Research Data Culture Conversation)
• Requirements for national accessible research data services for collaborative and sensitive data (AARNet)
• Developing strategic and sustainable capacity investment models (ARDC Data Retention Project)