Feedback will help identify gaps in research data management ecosystem and set priorities for the upcoming funding call

[Ottawa, ON]

CANARIE, a vital component of Canada’s digital infrastructure supporting research, education and innovation, today announced the launch of a community consultation on research data management (RDM) that will support the identification of funding priorities for its upcoming call for proposals.

The call for proposals of up to $3M, expected to be launched in late spring 2018, will fund the development of RDM software components and tools to encourage the adoption of RDM best practices.

Research data management in Canada is evolving.  Funders, institutions, associations and digital infrastructure service providers are working to develop the policy frameworks and digital infrastructures to support reuse of research data, leading to accelerated knowledge creation and advances across all research domains. While some elements supporting research data management have been developed, there are still significant gaps.

This consultation is designed to identify these gaps and priority areas for software component and tool development. The feedback from this consultation will enable CANARIE to focus its funding on the areas of highest priority as identified by the community.

CANARIE is applying the globally-accepted FAIR Principles as a conceptual framework for this consultation. The FAIR Principles describe a research data management approach in which data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. The consultation is also grounded in the Research Data Canada document “Data Innovation in Canada”, which articulates key areas in the Canadian RDM landscape which would benefit from attention.

To provide further context and answer questions from the community, CANARIE’s RDM Program Manager, Mark Leggott, will host two Town Halls by webinar. Interested participants may register for the webinar of their choice by using the links below:

• January 16, 2018 – 1:00 pm ET | Register: canarie.ca/rdm-webinar1
• January 18, 2018 – 1:00 pm ET | Register: canarie.ca/rdm-webinar2

Before or after the Town Hall sessions, interested parties may learn how to submit their feedback to this consultation via the following link: canarie.ca/rdm/community-consultation.

The feedback will be reviewed by CANARIE’s Research Data Management Advisory Committee, which will provide direction to CANARIE on the priority areas for funding in its upcoming call for proposals.

For more information, contact:

Ela Yazdani
Director, Communications
CANARIE
[email protected] | 613-943-5432

About CANARIE

CANARIE strengthens Canadian leadership in science and technology by delivering digital infrastructure to support world-class research that directly benefits all Canadians.

Twelve provincial and territorial network partners, together with CANARIE, collectively form Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN). Canadians at universities, colleges, research institutes, hospitals, and government laboratories rely on this ultra-high-speed network to collaborate in data-intensive, cutting-edge research and innovation within Canada and with colleagues in over 100 countries.

Beyond the network, CANARIE funds and promotes reusable research software tools to accelerate scientific discovery.  CANARIE also supports Research Data Canada as it leads national research data management initiatives, and through the Canadian Access Federation, provides identity management services that enable secure, ubiquitous connectivity and content access to the academic community. To boost commercialization in Canada’s technology sector, CANARIE offers cloud resources to startups through its DAIR service, and links a powerful community of public and private sector partners in the Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks (CENGN).

Established in 1993, CANARIE is a non-profit corporation, with the majority of its funding provided by the Government of Canada.

For more information, please visit: www.canarie.ca.