Realising the potential for open research data

Realising the Potential, the final report of the Open Research Data Task Force (ORDTF), examines the opportunities presented though open research data.

Better incentives for researchers and a user friendly shared infrastucture are key to kickstarting a revolution in sharing and making data open. The impetus behind sharing data meets demands for research integrity and greater efficiencies: open data allows findings to be reproduced, concerns with the data can be easily spotted, and reuse of data saves costs in creating it again.

Final report published

Realising the Potential is released today following a response from Chris Skidmore, Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. The ORDTF comprises a group of senior professionals from UK higher education, research organisations and publishers, chaired by Professor Pam Thomas, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Warwick.

Strategic steer

The Task Force further sets out ambitions for open research data in the UK, advocating that research data should be made FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable). The report recommends that steps should be taken by stakeholders, including UKRI and Jisc, to enable a national open research data infrastructure.

The report is structured around 5 main themes:

  • Better incentives, fewer barriers
  • Active leadership
  • Clear expectations
  • User-friendly services
  • Sustainable funding
  • How are we responding?

    Jisc’s response to the publication of the advice, and also to related advice from Professor Adam Tickell (Sussex University) on the future of Open Access, is posted on our corporate blog.

    In practical terms, we have already started to put in place some of the required architecture, for example, the Jisc open research hub, for managing, preserving and sharing research data. You can read more about our progress on WonkHE today, where Dom Fripp describes the development of a sector-wide service aiming to support institutions and research staff in storing, preserving, and reporting on research outputs.