FAIRsFAIR Sparkles at Midterm Review

“The project has fully achieved its objectives and milestones for this period and has delivered exceptional results with significant immediate or potential impact”.

A positive midterm review has confirmed that FAIRsFAIR is on a solid trajectory which is of direct relevance to European research policy and will provide a reference point for researchers, data professionals and infrastructure providers looking to turbocharge their practices.

The goal of FAIRsFAIR is to supply practical solutions for the use of the FAIR data principles throughout the research data life cycle and to foster FAIR data culture and the uptake of good practices in making data FAIR. The project review report at the eighteen-month mark is a firm thumbs up for the 22-member project consortium and was enthusiastically received by all concerned.

Efficient, harmonious and responsive project management 

FAIRsFAIR was commended in particular for its "efficient, harmonious and responsive project management, the internal collaboration across work packages and tasks, and the substantial and successful efforts to bring external initiatives into dialogue across the European research data landscape."

Significant impact

According to the reviewer, "the impact of the project’s work to date is notable, in that a vast array of stakeholders and community outputs on FAIR have been brought together, analysed, condensed where possible and communicated back to that community, and to others attentive to the project but outside the European community... The potential impact on society is incalculable."

Says Ingrid Dillo, DANS Deputy Director and FAIRsFAIR Project Coordinator, “FAIRsFAIR is one of the Horizon 2020 projects for the implementation of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Receiving confirmation that our objectives, deliverables, milestones, dissemination, communication, and use of resources are on target, and of high quality means we can step with confidence into the remaining eighteen months, during which time we will also act on the recommendations we have received."

Next steps

In the coming weeks and months, efforts to broaden and deepen the impact of FAIRsFAIR both within and beyond established networks will be considerably intensified. Plans include active engagement with the newly formed EOSC Association, and the GAIA-X initiative, a series of national roadshows in the Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, and Romania, the FAIRsFAIR public meeting on 13 April during FAIRsFAIR Week 2021 (registration is open), and events for university audiences. Significantly, one-fifth of the respondents to the recent FAIRsFAIR call for policy enhancement support came from outside the EU - for example from Canada, Australia, India, and Costa Rica. The intention is to bring many of these candidates into the FAIRsFAIR ecosystem. Connections with the data science profession will also be strengthened through the soon-to-be-opened FAIRsFAIR Competence Centre.

The FAIRsFAIR Project

FAIRsFAIR - Fostering Fair Data Practices in Europe - aims to supply practical solutions for the use of the FAIR data principles throughout the research data life cycle. Emphasis is on fostering FAIR data culture and the uptake of good practices in making data FAIR. FAIRsFAIR is playing a key role in the development of global standards for FAIR certification of repositories and the data within them contributing to those policies and practices that will turn the EOSC programme into a functioning infrastructure.