The next five years of activity are critical for research data management, as research expectations grow and funder mandates begin to bite. Working with ARMA, RLUK, RUGIT, SCONUL and UCISA, Jisc has supported the sector in setting out the vision, principles and priorities that will shape activity in the months and years to follow. This session introduced the directions in research data management report, which will be published at or shortly after the session.

2. Directions in Research Data Management
Rachel Bruce (Jisc)
PeterTinson (UCISA)
David Kernohan (Jisc)

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“What we want to see, looking five years ahead, is a new position
accorded to data within the scholarly communications environment”
» Collaboration with five major UK stakeholder organisations in
RDM
» Events and workshops involving funders, researchers, librarians, IT
managers, research office staff and data specialists
» Informed by interviews, discussions, surveys and reports
In collaboration with RLUK, RUGIT, SCONUL, UCISA, ARMA
Building the roadmap and vision

4. Building the roadmap and vision
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» With thanks to
› Simon Ketteridge and Ray Kent, ARMA
› CarolineTaylor, SCONUL
› Mike Mertens, John MacColl and David Prosser, RLUK
› Sean Duffy, RUGIT
› PeterTinson, UCISA
› Sheridan Brown and Christine Gormley, copy writers
In collaboration with RLUK, RUGIT, SCONUL, UCISA, ARMA

5. The structure
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Vision
Introduction
Five key areas to action
Moving forward
Directions for
Research Data
Management
(March 2015)

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“We want to see data being routinely managed with the necessary articulated
infrastructure (in part, provided by Jisc) in place.”
“This will be a trusted landscape, formed of data archives at the levels of
institution, region and nation, and international disciplinary archives.The skills of
librarians, IT specialists and others will be required to address the challenges around
capture, discoverability, preservation, storage, software and retention.”
“The data equivalent of subject/liaison librarians will be blended professionals
working in all institutions, within proper career structures: these will be data
specialists.”
First expressed by John MacColl of RLUK, echoing two days of
intense discussion and deliberation at our workshop in Cambridge
TheVision

7. The areas: Each area includes:
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Focus on the five key areas of action
» Policy development and
implementation
» Skills and capabilities
» Infrastructure and
interoperability
» Incentives for researchers and
support staff
» Business case and
sustainability
» A top level discussion
» Key issues identified
» A five year vision
» Quick wins
» Longer term issues to
be addressed

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» Policy: Mandate messiness experienced today should have been
resolved and funders requirements should be unequivocal and well
aligned; universities should gave a very clear understanding of
what funders require of them and what they need to achieve it.
The prevailing culture will be characterised by incentives and
rewards rather than primarily by mandates
In five years time…
Vision

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» Skills and capability: Blended professionals –data specialists – will
be working within proper career structures. Harmonised training
and understanding of required skills to ensure skills can be
developed and recruited
» Infrastructure and interoperability: Today’s partial, fragmented
RDM landscape is a far cry from the one we envision in five years
time. Data will be routinely managed with the necessary
articulated infrastructure, provided in part by Jisc
In five years time…
Vision

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» Incentives for researchers and support stakeholders: Five years
from now easy access to data will be the norm, and not doing RDM
well will be tantamount to research malpractice
» Business case and sustainability: All UK universities will have
RDM systems and services in place, operating successfully and
increasingly for the good of the institution but also for scholarship
more generally.The will be compliant with funder policies, will
have a clear view on financial and business benefits of RDM and
researchers will be benefiting from more tangible rewards for
sharing data
In five years time…
Vision

11. Policy
development
and
implementation
Key issues include:
» Engagement with funders
» Developing institutional RDM policies
» Advocacy
» Advice
» Policies on metadata, storage, and
archival selection
Quick wins include:
» Map policy requirements,
understand what is different,
common
» Institutional advocacy
Skills and
capabilities
Key issues include:
» Assessment of required skills
and roles
» Training and development
Quick wins include:
» Working with stakeholders to
identify required skills
» Development of training and
guidance offer
» Work-shadowing scheme
Focus on the five key areas of action
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12. Infrastructure
and
interoperability
Key issues include:
» Storage
» Metadata catalogue
» Interoperability
» Service level
Quick wins include:
» Mapping key components of an
RDM service
» Framework agreements
» Metadata standardisation
Incentives for
researchers
and support
staff
Key issues include:
» Need for explicit rewards for
data sharing
» Value of open data for better
science
» Recognition for the support
staff role
Quick wins include:
» Promoting data citation
» Engaging “champions”
» Explicit RDM focus in funding bid
reviews
Focus on the five key areas of action
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13. Business
cases and
sustainability
Key issues include:
» Evidence of benefit
» Costing models
» Capacity
» Approaches to funding
Quick wins include:
» Work on benefit measures
and metrics
» Business case templates
» Clarify what costs can be
reclaimed from funders
Focus on the five key areas of action
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14. “If we are aiming ultimately to develop a full roadmap, the Cambridge
workshop helped to formulate a commonly agreed destination and this
report provides the waypoints – ideas from which a series of activities or
work packages may be designed to facilitate the journey.That journey
itself is likely to be as challenging as it is professionally rewarding: if it is
hard going at times, it will help to remind ourselves that the ultimate
prize will be enhanced scholarship in the UK’s universities.”
Moving forward
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