The overall objective of the study was to provide a detailed characterisation of the research data ecosystem in the European context, covering the EU Member States, Horizon 2020 Associated Countries and the UK. The study goals were:
- 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 study was carried out by Visionary Analytics (VA), the European Future Innovation System Centre (EFIS), Digital Curation Centre (DCC), Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS). Particularly, EFIS contributed to conceptual development of the methodology, in the preparation of the surveys focused on data depositing practices and analysing the results of the responses by data repositories. EFIS also conducted interviews to representatives of surveyed repositories to develop informative case studies.
The study provided an impressive amount of insightful data and trends. The findings and recommendations included in the final reports and case studies will support the EC in developing more targeted policies and support actions to make FAIR and open data practices more mainstream.
