After a welcome address by the Managing Director of Fraunhofer FOKUS, Prof. Dr. Manfred Hauswirth, and by the research group leader at Fraunhofer FOKUS, Prof. Dr. Sonja Schimmler, the international conference provided a platform for science and technology experts to critically discuss the development of RDM services over the course of two days. The event's main objective was to strengthen the common understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing basic services and to present basic services developed in the Base4NFDI initiative by November 2024. Accordingly, an important focus was on the critical evaluation of technical interoperability and the role of local guidelines. This topic was also the focus of the keynote speech by Lilli Freda and Daniele Bailo (both EPOS-ERIC), chaired by Prof. Dr. Sonja Schimmler (Fraunhofer FOKUS).

About Base4NFDI

The National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) aims to make research data generally available according to FAIR principles and thus enable the exchange of research data within the scientific community. Base4NFDI is a central initiative within the NFDI that aims to take a participatory approach to introducing RDM services by developing and offering a range of RDM-enabled services for the NFDI community. The aim is to improve research data management within and outside the NFDI by promoting, developing, and establishing reliable NFDI basic services – thus creating a basis for better discoverability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of research data.

Fraunhofer FOKUS has been active for years

Fraunhofer FOKUS has been involved in NDFI activities for many years. In the NFDI4DataScience consortium in particular, FOKUS scientists led by Prof. Dr. Sonja Schimmler are working to develop solutions for data management that are useful not only for data science and artificial intelligence but also for a broader scientific community.

Following the successful launch at Fraunhofer FOKUS, the Base4NFDI user conference is planned to take place annually at different locations.