Trustworthy data repositories capable of curating FAIR data for researchers are a critical requirement for a European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). WP4 will support the co-development and implementation of certification schemes for trusted data repositories enabling FAIR research data in the EOSC. 

In line with the “Turning FAIR into Reality” report from the European Commission expert group on FAIR data, FAIRsFAIR will augment existing certification mechanisms for digital data repositories, such as CoreTrustSeal. These established procedures and standards of the CoreTrustSeal requirements emerged from research data community work to identify key practices for data repositories which support long term access to reusable data. 

This WP will take an iterative approach to consider where FAIR object maturity can be aligned with the existing CoreTrustSeal requirements, and where additional requirements might be desirable. These Extended Requirements, supported by clear evaluated procedures, will provide the input for the iterative testing and revision of repository certification mechanisms for trustworthy data repositories in the EOSC. Initial version of repository certification mechanism to be released in May 2020.

It is expected that the outcome of this approach is directly relevant to the CoreTrustSeal Requirements. Reference to FAIR and FAIR language being more incorporated in the CoreTrustSeal Requirements will help researchers and data repositories to maintain FAIR data in trustworthy repositories. 

Key Objectives

  • to develop extensions to existing approaches to “core” data repository certification with a view to identifying the levels of capability maturity necessary to support data which is assessed as FAIR.
  • to identify and develop a European network of trustworthy repositories enabling FAIR data. 
  • to offer support and guidance for data repositories aspiring repository certification, and for reviewers of certification applications.
  • to provide stakeholders with a trustworthy tool to find relevant certified repositories.
  • to define the scope of “core” level repository certification, and through pilots define more rigorous requirements to support the assessment of data in trustworthy repositories as FAIR

Close alignment with developments and work in Research Data Alliance (RDA) and EOSC-context is very important, as in other initiatives and projects aiming at making research data FAIR.

Partners Involved

  • Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW-DANS)
  • University of Edinburgh - Digital Curation Centre (UEDIN)
  • DataCite (DATACITE)
  • University of Bremen (UniHB)
  • UK Data Archive (UKDA)
  • Centre Informatique National de l'Enseignement Supérieur (CINES)