The RDMkit is written by and for life scientists and data stewards to help them manage their research data in a way that aligns with the FAIR Principles.
- It has guidelines and best practices for managing research data throughout the data lifecycle, from planning and acquisition to analysis and dissemination.
- It has information on software tools, standards, and repositories that can be used for research data management.
- It provides contextualized links to other RDM information resources such as FAIRsharing, bio.tools, the TeSS training portal, and the FAIRCookbook.
RDMkit is a hit. Over 150 contributors from many communities - from Structural bioinformatics to Health data. National specific pages. Links to 100s of tools. It’s recommended by national funders and research performing institutions. It’s recommended by the Horizon Europe programme guide and the European Research Council, and the USA National Institute of Health Office of Data Science Strategy have joined the Editorial Board.
RDMkit is spreading its wings beyond its founding sponsor ELIXIR - new projects are adopting and adapting it to build their customised Kits and/or contributing to the RDMkit itself. Other organisations are looking to adopt and adopt for their own versions.
The RDMkit has always been an open, community-driven, and community-developed resource. In this next phase we need to move to the next stage, where we can get organised with how individuals and organisations contribute, how they can reuse the RDMkit’s content, on its underlying platform, and on its processes and people structures.
Through an RDMKit Alliance we can work together on these issues, exchange information, engage communities and evolve the RDMkit products and services to form an RDMKIt Commons. An RDMkit Alliance will allow the community to advise on how to adopt, use, reuse, attribute and contribute to the components and practices of the RDMkit. It will create a forum to manage RDMkit’s sustainability and governance, and enable all stakeholders to engage and be part of the continuing venture.
The RDMkit Alliance could take different forms, and we have quite a number of steps to take over the next 12 months to establish the right framework.
- Define the purpose, goals and objectives of the Alliance, including determining the scope of the alliance, its membership, and its governance structure.
- Identify potential member organisations, institutions, or individuals that may be interested in joining the alliance, reaching out to organisations that are already involved in research data management or related fields.
- Develop a governance structure, including establishing a governing body, developing policies and procedures, and creating a framework for decision-making.
- Determine funding and resources required to support the activities of the alliance, including identifying potential funding sources, developing a budget, and identifying staff and other resources needed to manage the alliance.
- Define roles and responsibilities of the members of the alliance, determining the level of participation required, the type of activities that members will be expected to undertake, and the benefits of membership.
- Develop a communication strategy to promote the alliance and its activities. We already have an RDMkit website and social media presence, but the Alliance itself needs these and other communication tools to keep members and the wider community informed about its activities.
Then we can launch the RDMkit Alliance and begin working towards achieving its goals and objectives.
Provisional RDMkit Alliance set up timetable
| Date | |
|---|---|
| June 2023 | Convening BOF at ELIXIR All Hands (5-8 June 2023) |
| July/Aug 2023 | Preparation of draft framework by small team |
| Sept 2023 | First public online meeting (likely week of 4th Sept 2023) |
| Oct 2023 | Second public online meeting |
| Nov 2023 | Third and final public online meeting |
| Jan 2024 | Launch RDMkit Alliance |
Join the alliance
If you would be interested in joining such an Alliance and would like to contribute to the steps to set it up, please sign up here: