On September 9–10, a dynamic group of data-sharing leaders gathered at Carnegie Mellon University for the RDA-US Futures Meeting. The goal? To talk openly about the future of US-based data-sharing consortiums: how challenge can spark opportunity.

Day 1: Gems, Grit, and Big Ideas

We kicked things off by asking each organization to share their “gems”, that is, the things they’re most proud of:

• RDA-US (Beth Plale): A strong community, a smart communications strategy, and the TIGRUS program.
• OHSL (Anil Srivastava): A passionate team of young, data-driven scientists.
• USNC/CODATA (Bonnie Carroll): The SWORDS international education program in cyberinfrastructure and data science.
• GoFAIR (Christine Kirkpatrick): The RAiD Pilot and GoFAIR’s training network.
• South Big Data Hub (Renata Goss-Rawlings): Building research partnerships and institutional capacity.
• World Data Systems (Meredith Goins): Trusted digital repositories and a thriving early-career researcher network.

Then came some thoughtful reflections:

• Sayeed Choudhury asked us to consider what would be lost if RDA-US were to shut down.
• Amy Nurnberger echoed that concern.
• Hilary Hanahoe proposed a US National Data Week to bring everyone together.
• Maria Praetzellis saw overlap in training efforts and agreed a national event could be a great way to collaborate.
• Natalie Myers emphasized the value of the TIGRUS program—and its larger EU counterpart, TIGER.

The day wrapped up with a clear sense of urgency and purpose. We identified key strategies and action items to help navigate this transitional moment.

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Day 2: Keynotes and Next Steps

Day two began with a keynote from Hilary Hanahoe, who spoke about the importance of regional voices in shaping RDA’s global mission. Sayeed Choudhury followed with a talk on openness—drawing from his experience in open source and, more recently, open AI through the Open Forum for AI.

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What’s Next: Two Task Forces in Motion

Two new task forces are now up and running, moving quickly to shape the future:

1. Transition Team

Charged with developing a plan to advance RDA-US.  In alignment with RDA Global they’ll explore different succession scenarios and consult with sister organizations like CODATA, GoFAIR, WDS, and SBDH. The team will present their plan to the RDA-US Steering Committee in early November.

2. Funding Triage Team

Focused on short-term (bridge) funding to keep RDA-US operations going. They’re drafting a document that outlines RDA-US’s core principles and what’s at stake if it shuts down.  This is seen as something funders can rally behind.

Also of note: Sayeed Choudhary stepped down from the Steering Committee due to a conflict of interest, as he’s now part of the Transition Team. RDA-US operations at Indiana University are set to wind down by the end of 2025.

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Want to Get Involved?

Both teams are welcoming input! If you’re interested in contributing or learning more, reach out to us at rda-us@rda-foundation.org.

You’re invited to join an open session of the RDA-US futures meeting to be held Wednesday, September 10, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Research Data Alliance Secretary General Hilary Hanahoe and Sayeed Choudhury, Associate Dean for Digital Infrastructure and Director of Open Source Programs Office (OSPO) at Carnegie Mellon University, will give keynote talks to kick-off day two of the meeting.

Registration is free, but you must register to attend to receive the zoom link.

Wednesday, September 10 | 9:00 – 9:30 a.m. Eastern
Research data management across borders: Working globally to find local solutions.
Hilary Hanahoe, RDA Secretary General

Abstract: As a global organisation with over 15,000 members across 150+ countries, the Research Data Alliance’s strength lies in its ability to connect researchers, policymakers, and infrastructure providers to address research data management and open science challenges in an open and community driven way.
For over 10 years the global Research Data Alliance (RDA) community has been developing and producing recommendations for research data management in disciplinary and organiza-tional contexts. This presentation will highlight the value and impact of developing standards and best practices on an international scale and implementing them at a local and / or disciplinary level.

Wednesday, September 10 | 9:30 – 10:00 a.m. Eastern
Open source as a pathway to partnerships.
Sayeed Choudhury, Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract: Open source software has generated economic value and reduced production costs through partnerships that span different sectors. While open source software began in universities, it’s only recently that universities have launched open source programs offices (OSPOs) to act as centers of competency and community conveners. The Community of University and Research Institution OSPOs (CURIOSS) is a network of partners working collectively to support and advance open source software. At Carnegie Mellon University, the OSPO led the launch of the Open Forum for AI to foster human centered AI, embracing openness as a design principle. Both CURIOSS and OFAI showcase how open source can act as a collective mechanism for coalitions or partnerships, with lessons that may be relevant for data collectives or organizations.

The second day of the US 10 year RDA celebration event in May 2023 brought together the RDA-US community to shape RDA-US moving forward. The feedback was overwhelmingly supportive for continuing a US-based community.  We announced a newly envisioned RDA-US in Oct 2023 at the Research Data Alliance (RDA) Plenary 20 in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is time again for the RDA-US community to reenvision what works and what does not. We invite you to help us shape the future of RDA-US.

The RDA-US strategic plan over the last couple of years has been to advance responsible data sharing and open science and scholarship in the U.S.  As your RDA-US program office, we serve as the official partner with global RDA representing the U.S. region, while advocating for and advancing solutions along three objectives: 

• Foster the RDA-US community 
• Aid US efforts in RDA through TIGRUS program
• Develop a voice in US to further US objectives in open science

Through this vision we have collectively realized substantial accomplishments by bringing together the community and leveraging RDA to progress the state of data (and software) sharing in the US. I see considerable opportunity for the RDA-US community to continue to engage in issues that matter, and to bring the mighty corpus of cross-continent RDA recommendations to bear on problems of relevance in the U.S.

While the RDA-US community is strong, national and state fiscal pressures in the U.S. have made it impossible for IU to continue to underwrite RDA-US beyond the end of Phase I (Dec 2025). RDA-US is thus seeking interest by an individual or group to take over managing RDA-US community engagement and the relationship with RDA. The TIGRUS (Targeted International working GRoups US) program will no longer continue either – its name and logo are available for use in a subsequent program. 

Between now and the end of the calendar year, the RDA-US program office will continue to monitor the national landscape, engage with the RDA global organization, facilitate community interaction, and engage in ongoing commitments.  We are additionally, in cooperation with the RDA-US Steering Committee, arranging a small group, 1.5 day workshop sometime in the first couple weeks of September 2025. We anticipate the workshop to be held at Carnegie Mellon University and have 15 people in attendance. Those in attendance will have interest and ability to help RDA-US move forward. Please reach out to us on our Slack channel or email us at rda-us@rda-foundation.org to share your interest in joining us at the workshop.

Warmest regards,
Beth Plale
RDA-US Executive Director

June 10, 2024

Research Data Alliance – United States is pleased to give its unqualified endorsement¹ to the report Developing a US National PID Strategy (https://zenodo.org/records/10811008), released in March 2024. The report outlines the benefits of Persistent IDs, their associated metadata, and the systems that connect them. Its objective is to advance open scholarship goals in the United States and achieve that objective through guidance to US stakeholders on the effective use of PIDs for connecting and tracking research in the context of the research ecosystem.

The RDA-US steering committee lauded the report’s significant relevance for PID adoption in the United States. The report aligns well with the RDA-US organization’s mission to advance open science and scholarship in the US. RDA-US endorsement principles state that a document meets the criteria for endorsement if it is a definitive work on the topic. It was noted that the PID Strategy document is titled “Developing a US National PID Strategy” suggesting an evolving nature that could be considered non-definitive. Still, the committee felt the work was a significant enough entry into a national conversation on PIDs to warrant RDA-US endorsement.

We offer several observations made by the RDA-US committee and community for future improvements to the strategy. RDA-US principles state that its actions are unbiased in societal benefit. As such, we recommend that the principles of CARE and TRUST be reflected in future versions of the report; and further suggest avoidance of any impression of favor towards private sector options. Finally, it was noted that there are multiple solutions for PIDs for research software including DOIs and Software Heritage IDs (SWHIDS).

¹RDA-US Endorsement Process: https://rda-us.org/rda-us-endorsement/

Link to PDF of Endorsement.

The Research Data Alliance’s 22nd Plenary meeting (VP22) took place as a fully virtual event. Organized by the RDA Secretariat, VP22 was held for half-days spread across two weeks, between 14-23 May 2024.

With the theme “Local Action – Global Connection”, which also aligns with the four themes of RDA’s Strategic Plan, the plenary focused on collaboration and engagement with our global community through the sharing of local experiences, best practices and recommendations.

To make VP22 a truly global event, RDA invited Regional RDA Partners (RDA in the Americas, RDA Europe and RDA Oceania) to host plenary sessions and Office Hours to highlight their work. As well as sharing regional updates, the sessions gave attendees the chance to network with experts from their region and discover how they can get involved, identifying synergies across nations and continents.

The RDA-US Program Office collaborated with Digital Research Alliance of Canada / RDA Canada to host the session Engagement in the Americas. This session opened with region updates including ways for RDA members to become involved within their respective region, but also across regions. Drawing on local communities, the session included area experts on topics of mutual interest to both regions. The session closed with open discussion between multiple regions with the goal of identifying synergies that could lead to potential collaborative opportunities.

Speakers included:

• Lee Wilson, Director of Research Data Management, Digital Research Alliance of Canada
• Beth Plale, Executive Director, Research Data Alliance – US
• Fares Dhane, Data analyst, Digital Research Alliance of Canada
• Rob Quick, TIGRUS Program Manager, Research Data Alliance – US (TIGRUS)
• CJ Woodford, Project Manager, Digital Research Alliance of Canada, (Global Open Research Commons (GORC) Working Group in RDA)
• Yolanda Meleco, Research Data Alliance – US
• Robert Ping, Program Manager, Research Data Alliance – US (moderator)

The discussion after presentations included RDA members from many different regions, countries, and institutions:

• Research Software Alliance, Digital Research Alliance of Canada, Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN), and folks from Ontario, Nova Scotia, Montreal in Canada.
• Indiana University Pervasive Technology Institute, Columbia University, University of Virginia, Washington University in St. Louis, American Geophysical Union, Figshare, George Mason University, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Purdue University, Boston, Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS), California Digital Library (CDL), Center for International Earth Science Information Network – Columbia University (CIESIN) in the United States.
• Attendees from Chili, France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland, Scotland, United Kingdom, Peru, Italy, Greece, and Costa Rica.

RDA-US also participated in a joint session with Research Data Alliance facilitation of Targeted International working Groups for EOSC-related Research solutions (RDA TIGER) to talk about the new Targeted International working Group US (TIGER) facilitation program.

During this joint TIGER/TIGRUS session the EU and US offices presented the TIGER/TIGRUS facilitation services and the value they bring to the RDA community. Invited TIGER-supported working groups (WGs) provided their experiences with TIGER and how it has helped them achieve their goals.

The session included a survey of attendees, presentations by both facilitation programs and the RDA directorate, and a lively question/answer session.

Speakers included:

• Connie Clare, Community Development Manager, Research Data Alliance
• Robert Ping, Program Manager, RDA-US, Indiana University Pervasive Technology Institute
• Ryan O’Connor, Senior Facilitator, RDA TIGER, Research Data Alliance Association AISBL
• Matti Heikkurinen, Research Project Portfolio Manager, Research Data Alliance Association AISBL
• Alexandra Delipalta, Director of Operations, RDA Europe (moderator)

The final session RDA-US hosted was RDA-US Office Hours. Attendees connected with the RDA-US program office to ask questions or learn more about RDA-US initiatives. It opened with a short presentation about RDA-US and the TIGRUS (Targeted International working Groups US) facilitation program and a rousing discussion followed.

In addition to Indiana University, attendees represented Rutgers University, NIST, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Washington University in St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon, Figshare, IRI – Columbia University, Research Space, UCOP / CDL (UC3), and Stanford.

The RDA-US organization will on occasion put its collective voice behind a work product by giving it RDA-US endorsement. RDA-US applies the guidance contained herein as it considers a product for endorsement. RDA-US may endorse an RDA work product (an “RDA Recommendation”) as is applied in a situation; it will not endorse the RDA Recommendation itself.

Endorsement occurs when a work product is approved by two-thirds majority of the RDA-US Steering Committee who actively cast votes. Vote categories are (yes/no/abstain); abstentions must be justified. Per RDA-US’ organization chart, the RDA-US Steering Committee (SC) includes program officers and steering committee members; these members make up the voting body.

RDA-US will not retract a previous endorsement, but as the research data environment in which RDA-US operates changes over time, RDA-US reserves the right to endorse a work product that appears to directly conflict with an earlier endorsed work product. In these cases, RDA-US will issue a clarifying statement.

RDA-US endorses work products that meet the following criteria:

• Aligns with values of the organization (RDA-US)
• Has strong US relevance
• Has clearly articulated principles
• Is a definitive written work on a topic
• Is unbiased in its societal benefit

Endorsement process:

1. RDA-US Program Office confirms with agents of the endorsement (authors) their support for the request for RDA-US endorsement.
2. Public announcement is made of input period (approximately 1 month in duration) wherein RDA-US seeks input from the RDA US community.
3. RDA-US endorsement may be accompanied by an RDA-US statement providing context, support, “important going forward” details and other matters related to its discussion. This endorsement supplement should not in any way be interpreted as a qualifying of (weakening of) the endorsement.
4. Upon RDA-US endorsement and release of any accompanying statement, RDA-US registers endorsement on RDA-US web page and promotes in RDA communication channels.
5. The organization or group who authored the endorsed document: Records RDA-US endorsement in a document if possible and in related communications; endorsement should include the RDA-US logo (available here) and the following:

• Officially endorsed by:
• Research Data Alliance – US
• Bloomington, IN United States
• https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/rda-us

The endorsement process described above may be reassessed and modified to reflect the evolution of the RDA-US needs. It is the goal of the RDA-US not to confuse this endorsement process with the process of the global RDA. RDA-US will reassess this process on a bi-yearly schedule.

View the most recent version of the endorsement process.

The RDA-US Targeted International working GRoup Facilitation Program (TIGRUS) recently announced the first two RDA Working Groups (WG) it will be facilitating as part of its pilot: the National PID Strategies WG and the Common Standard for Machine-actionable Data Management Plans WG.

With the National PID Strategies WG, TIGRUS will liaise with group co-chairs Todd Carpenter (National Information Standards Organization) and John Chodacki (California Digital Library, University of California Office of the President) in developing a national PID strategy for the United States (US) by applying the Group’s RDA National PID Strategies Guide and Checklist and case studies, as well as guidelines published in the March 2024 report titled “Developing a US National PID Strategy”.

With the Common Standard for Machine-actionable Data Management Plans WG, TIGRUS will collaborate with Maria Praetzellis, Associate Director, and others from the California Digital Library (CDL) to advance the application profile developed by the Group as well as the DMPTool created at the CDL within the US.

TIGRUS, launched earlier this year, assists the RDA-US community in tackling data challenges specific to the United States and amplifying results that are achieved through RDA in collaboration efforts with the international RDA community.

RDA-US and TIGRUS is supported by Indiana University’s (IU) Pervasive Technology Institute (PTI). PTI is IU’s flagship organization for research and development in cyberinfrastructure, informatics, and computer science in support of science and engineering research, scholarship, and cybersecurity.

RDA-US and TIGRUS is supported by Indiana University’s (IU) Pervasive Technology Institute (PTI). PTI, is IU’s flagship organization for research and development in cyberinfrastructure, informatics, and computer science in support of science and engineering research, scholarship, and cybersecurity.

To learn more contact TIGRUS program manager, Rob Quick, or the RDA-US Program Manager, Robert Ping.

Announced during Plenary 21, the Targeted International Working GRoups – US Program, TIGRUS, is officially launched and underway at RDA-US.

Led by RDA-US Executive Director Beth Plale and TIGRUS Program Manager Rob Quick, the TIGRUS Facilitation Program leverages RDA’s Working Group structure to address data challenges happening within the US. Through the creation and support of RDA groups interested in developing solutions to data challenges specific to the US, the Program will facilitate collaboration efforts among its members and with the international RDA community. TIGRUS is also poised to facilitate the efforts of US-funded research projects that come together on consensus solutions (“standards”) that promote interoperability and/or best practices.

RDA-US and TIGRUS is supported by Indiana University’s (IU) Pervasive Technology Institute (PTI). PTI, is IU’s flagship organization for research and development in cyberinfrastructure, informatics, and computer science in support of science and engineering research, scholarship, and cybersecurity.

According to Plale, who is also Executive Director of IU’s PTI and the Data to Insight Center, “PTI’s investment in the RDA-US and the TIGRUS Program is a testament to the shared commitment of RDA-US and IU to advance open science in the US and beyond.”

The TIGRUS Program will take place in phases, with the first phase spanning over the next two years. Objectives for this phase include the formation of a limited number of Working Group projects. As the program develops, additional support is anticipated, enabling it to scale and accommodate more groups tackling data challenges directly impacting our country. RDA-US and the TIGRUS Program also plan to support and collaborate with various federal agencies organizations to promote open science and innovation, while also developing the RDA-US community and the experiences of early career researchers.

PTI’s investment in the RDA-US and the TIGRUS Program is a testament to the shared commitment of RDA-US and IU to advance open science in the US and beyond.

Beth Plale, RDA-US Executive Director

A Steering Committee, who will have their second meeting on February 27, will guide the selection of new Working Group topics, help advance those groups through the approval process within RDA and manage the group projects. Steering committee members, representing various disciplines and areas of expertise, include:

• Stuart Chalk, University of North Florida
• Zach Chandler, Stanford University
• Sayeed Choudhury, Carnegie Mellon University
• Steven Diggs, University of California
• Erin Ellis, Indiana University
• Meredith Goins, World Data System
• Yolanda Meleco, Indiana University
• Natalie Meyers, University of Notre Dame
• Amy Nurnberger, MIT Libraries
• Robert Ping, Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University
• Beth Plale, Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University
• Rob Quick, Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University
• Shelley Stall, American Geophysical Union
• Cynthia Vitale, Association of Research Libraries
• Michael Witt, Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies

According to Rob Quick regarding TIGRUS, “Universities and funders in the US are positioning themselves to be responsive to data centric and global research. Community organizations like RDA offer consensus guidance that can influence research, infrastructure, and student training. The TIGRUS Program is an excellent opportunity for RDA and all organizations to synergize efforts for the common good.”

If you are interested in engaging further with RDA-US and the TIGRUS program, email Rob Quick at rquick@iu.edu.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.— Indiana University (IU)’s Data To Insight Center (D2I) and the Cyberinfrastructure Research Integration Center (CIRC) are pleased to announce a partnership with the Research Data Alliance-United States (RDA-US), a national hub of the Research Data Alliance (RDA) representing emerging research and data management communities throughout the US.

Read the full news release.