Shaping the infrastructure – technology aspirations for research data management

Overview

Examples of technological change designed to assist the producers, users and managers of research data are becoming increasingly prevalent.

The impetus for this is varied. At a broad national level, for example, the JISC Managing Research Data programme has recently sponsored a number of infrastructure initiatives; from the funders’ perspective, many institutions have now embarked on a three year programme of transition to achieve research data readiness as defined by the nine EPSRC expectations; and the DCC’s own series of targeted institutional engagements has identified significant opportunities for improving infrastructure that will support and enhance the research process.

Other socio-technical advances bringing influence to bear on data management practice are legion.

RDMF9, the last Research Data Management Forum to be held before the end of the DCC’s third phase, will consider not only the technology solutions that are being offered but also the policies and players who are shaping them.

The range of topics that will be covered includes

– Who is driving the technology strategy?
– The appropriateness of institutional repository platforms for managing data
– IT restructuring and incorporation of research data management
– Building a data registry
– The role of the IT services department
– Data storage options: what to consider
– Third party providers – what’s on offer
– Case studies from the JISC and UMF programmes
– Technology overviews