RDA-US launches TIGRUS facilitation program

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.

Caption: Banner image with text which reads Targeted International working GRoups U S, TIGRUS in black, facilitation program in red, and R D A U S in black running down one edge. The central character is a playful orange tiger jumping toward the viewer.

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.

Indiana University joins forces with RDA-US to advance Open Science Standards

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.

RDA Celebrates 10-year Anniversary

Last month, the organizers of the RDA-US May meeting spent a few days reconnecting with many of you during Plenary 20 in beautiful Gothenburg, Sweden.  It was a whirlwind, filled with meetings and networking, and it reminded us once again that RDA is an organization like no other, largely due to its members.  

For those that did attend, either virtually or in person, thank you for your participation!  Your engagement means more than you know, especially with RDA-US approaching significant transitions in the coming months.  

As announced during Plenary 20, Rebecca Kosela will be retiring later this year and Beth Plale will be assuming leadership of the RDA-US.  Beth is an early founder of RDA and the Executive Director of the Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University.

We encourage you to attend the RDA-US 10th Anniversary Celebration on May 23 at the University of California’s DC campus (UCDC) in Washington DC to welcome Beth, celebrate RDA’s 10th anniversary, and gather community feedback on where RDA-US should invest going forward.  Hosted by the University of California Curation Center (UC3), this celebration will offer you, a member of the RDA-US community, an opportunity to discuss recent US policy changes and strategies and explore further RDA-US collaborations.  The agenda will showcase some outputs and recommendations from RDA working groups and interest groups including the Schools of Research Data Science (SoRDS), Machine Actionalble Data Management Plans, PID infrastructure, and many more. Registration is available here.

With new opportunities for RDA-US on the horizon, your continued support is essential to our success.  Please consider joining us on May 23 at UCDC to celebrate our past and plan for the future.

RDA-US announces new leadership

The Research Data Alliance (RDA) celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year, and the RDA-US also celebrates its decadal birthday, having been formed at the same time as RDA to focus global RDA activity on regional challenges. RDA-US is using this milestone as an opportunity to celebrate the community of US members who have contributed leadership, support, and ideas to numerous RDA outputs and guidance documents over the decade. 

RDA-US is also at a turning point.  Rebecca Koskela, RDA-US Executive Director, who has artfully led RDA-US for the last 4 years, will be stepping down from her post and onto her next adventure in retirement.  Rebecca has overseen the formation of the Region of the Americas, which contributed to a 20% growth in individual members to the RDA. She has led a successful 3-year webinar series that has both Spanish and French channels, and co-chaired the RDA Regional Advisory Board. “I am proud of what we’ve accomplished for RDA and the Americas,“ said Ms. Koskela.

RDA-US is pleased to announce that Dr. Beth Plale has agreed to assume the leadership role of RDA-US. An early founder of RDA and the Executive Director of the Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University, Dr. Plale’s numerous contributions to RDA include guidance on PIDs, data fabric infrastructure, a US early-career program, and inaugural co-chair of RDA’s Technical Advisory Board. 

In 2022, RDA-US embarked on a strategic visioning exercise to review its strengths and direction. As an outcome, the strategic vision for RDA-US going forward is as an organizational entity dedicated to amplifying the voice and expertise of the RDA-US community and capitalizing on the products and approaches embodied in RDA-endorsed contributions, both targeting urgent challenges of open science and reproducible science and scholarship facing the US as captured in the OSTP Nelson memo. RDA-US will accomplish its work in partnership with other organizations, and continue close coordination with global RDA.

The RDA-US community is strong. Many members have been part of the community from the inception of RDA.  The community represents substantial expertise, experience, and commitment that can serve as a collective voice. The RDA-US community has contributed significantly to the success of RDA as well.  In partnership with volunteers and organizations across the world, RDA-US has developed consensus solutions and approaches to research data sharing that have been tested and contextualized in various settings locally and internationally (e.g., policies, approaches, infrastructure architecting, tool requirements).

“I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead RDA-US in this next phase”, says Dr. Plale. “The OSTP year of Open Science is a challenge to which RDA-US can amply contribute and is excited to embark upon.”