From February 4th to February 6th, Helsinki hosted various brainstorming sessions, discussions, and groundwork for the kick-off of the FIDELIS project. The project aimed to establish a European network of FAIR-enabling trustworthy digital repositories. By acting as leader of FIDELIS's communication and outreach activities, Trust-IT will also help secure strong and effective collaboration with the sister project EDEN.
The roots of a network of Trustworthy Digital Repositories
The origin of FIDELIS must be looked back at 2022 when the working paper “Towards a European network of FAIR-enabling Trustworthy Digital Repositories” outlined the necessity of a network of Trustworthy Digital Repositories (TDRs) for synchronised and collaborative data practices in European repositories (which according to re3data are almost 296). The goals and recommendations highlighted in the report powered FIDELIS’ ambition to establish a healthy, diverse and self-sustaining network of TDRs, upskilling the key actors in the area and consolidating the position of FAIR-enabling trustworthy digital repositories in Europe.
Initial efforts in engaging and supporting data repositories began in 2020, with projects like FAIRsFAIR which provided support to 10 repositories in receiving the CoreTrustSeal certification, and an additional 12 repositories being selected to improve their interoperability. Leveraging on the legacy of this support programme, between 2022 and 2024 the FAIR-IMPACT project provided financial and in-kind support to more than 80 unique organisations, amongst them multiple RPOs, Data Service Providers, Repositories, and National Level Initiatives, to begin or progress their FAIR-enabling journeys.
FIDELIS – Establishing a European Network of Trustworthy Digital Repositories
The FIDELIS project (grant agreement nr. 101188078) will harmonise the definition of what makes a digital repository trustworthy in the context of the EOSC and provide a framework for repositories to support each other not only in becoming but remaining trustworthy and FAIR-enabling (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) over time. Early in the project lifecycle, FIDELIS will establish a European network of FAIR-enabling trustworthy digital repositories that will live on after the project finishes and represent its member repositories to key stakeholders on important matters (e.g. policies and funding). Furthermore, FIDELIS project will upskill repositories and expand the emerging network through an active training, engagement and support programme that includes cascading grants for repositories to implement the solutions delivered by the project.
“FIDELIS represents a significant step forward in ensuring the long-term sustainability and trustworthiness of digital repositories within the European Open Science Cloud. By harmonising standards, fostering interoperability, and building a resilient network of trusted repositories, FIDELIS will lay a solid foundation for preserving Europe’s research data assets for generations to come. This initiative not only strengthens EOSC’s capacity to support data-driven science but also advances open science practices on a European and global scale,” says Damien Lecarpentier, FIDELIS Project Coordinator and Director of International Collaboration and Partnerships Unit at CSC.
The FIDELIS consortium is composed of 24 organisations from across Europe that cover generic digital repositories at national level in Finland, France, Norway, and Serbia and discipline-specific repositories from Social Sciences and Humanities, Biomedical Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Physical Sciences. Several FIDELIS partners offer expertise in research outreach, stakeholder engagement, capacity building and policy making.
Two projects, one common goal
FIDELIS sister project EDEN (grant agreement nr. 101188015) will focus on long-term data preservation aspects, by creating a framework to identify what data are candidates for digital preservation based on the assessment of the usage of data and its quality and benefits to science and society. EOSC EDEN and FIDELIS have been crafted to advance digital preservation and curation practices in Europe by being complementary to each other. They will feed each other with regards to collecting user requirements for digital preservation and FAIR-enabling frameworks and services that will support the establishment of a European distributed infrastructure for digital preservation, curation, and access in Europe. Their engagement activities towards key stakeholders, such as repositories, archives, and expert data curators, will support the adoption of the projects’ results, strengthen the necessary know-how in Europe and contribute to the establishment and further development of a European Network of FAIR-enabling Trustworthy Digital Repositories.
The collaboration is facilitated by six partners (DANS, UiT, UESSEX, DKRZ, UBEMEN, SIB) that, in addition to the coordinator, are involved in both projects. Both projects are coordinated by CSC – IT Center for Science and they will run from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027.
Trust-IT role in FIDELIS
Trust-IT leads Pillar 5, comprising Work Packages 11-13 focused on Strategic Alliance, Cascading Grants, and Communication and Dissemination Tasks. Bringing their experience of supporting other EOSC-related projects and Data Research projects, Trust-IT will help with strengthening partnerships within the EOSC ecosystem. Alongside partnership activities, Trust-IT will coordinate and implement the project’s communication and dissemination strategy and will set up the TRUST-GRANTS platform for managing cascading grants, promoting and supporting training programs, and designing and managing the TDR Forum.
