In June 2022, Visionary Analytics, in partnership with European Future Innovation System Centre – EFIS, the Digital Curation Centre – DCC and the Data Archiving and Networked Services – DANS, have finalised a 12-month study on the European research data landscape commissioned by the European Commission’s (DG RTD). The project aimed to analyse research data production, consumption, and depositing practices in the EU, Horizon 2020 Associated Countries and UK to get a detailed characterisation of the research data ecosystem in these countries.

The consortium pursued 4 specific objectives in conducting the study:

  • collect data on data production and consumption by scientific disciplines and relevant sub-disciplines;
  • collect and analyse information on data deposition practices, depending on the data typology and volume;
  • collect data on the level of maturity with respect to FAIR data implementation by scientific discipline and relevant sub-disciplines, using this data to identify trends, commonalities and major disparities across disciplines to characterise European science system;
  • assess the responsiveness and readiness of research data repositories in terms of the implementation of FAIR principles implementation, including certifications.

The consortium assessed the state of play in research data management and open science practices as well as on awareness and practical implementation of FAIR principles among researchers and data repositories across all scientific disciplines. Methodologies of the study included data harvesting, desk research, two surveys targeted at researchers and data repositories, interviews and application of the F-UJI tool.

EFIS Centre contributed to the overall scoping of the study and in particular to the fourth objective focused on analysing data repositories’ practices as well as combining desk research, survey’s responses and structured interviews to develop six specific case studies.

The results of the study, including a set of recommendations on key areas of interventions, are intended to provide valuable information that will support the Commission, the EOSC Partnership and various other stakeholders to develop more targeted policies and implement more effective actions to facilitate adoption of FAIR principles and open data practices in Europe.

The link to the published study will be included here as soon as it is made available.