The FAIR Data Maturity Model: An Approach to Harmonise FAIR Assessments

Abstract

In the past years, many methodologies and tools have been developed to assess the FAIRness of research data. These different methodologies and tools have been based on various interpretations of the FAIR principles, which makes comparison of the results of the assessments difficult. The work in the RDA FAIR Data Maturity Model Working Group reported here has delivered a set of indicators with priorities and guidelines that provide a 'lingua franca' that can be used to make the results of the assessment using those methodologies and tools comparable. The model can act as a tool that can be used by various stakeholders, including researchers, data stewards, policy makers and funding agencies, to gain insight into the current FAIRness of data as well as into the aspects that can be improved to increase the potential for reuse of research data. Through increased efficiency and effectiveness, it helps research activities to solve societal challenges and to support evidence-based decisions. The Maturity Model is publicly available and the Working Group is encouraging application of the model in practice. Experience with the model will be taken into account in the further development of the model.

Stewardship Maturity Assessment Tools for Modernization of Climate Data Management

“…For example, the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) Guiding Principles (Wilkinson et al, 2016) are fundamental to machine-enabled data sharing. Furthermore, the FAIR Data Maturity Indicators (DMI) endorsed by the Research Data Alliance (RDA) (Bahim et al, 2020) provides implementation guidance on what indicators to assess for "FAIR-ness". The TRUST (Transparency, Responsibility, User focus, Sustainability, Technology) principles (Lin et al, 2020) describe sustainability and data stewardship requirements for repositories for long term FAIRness (collected together at Core Trust Sealhttp://www.coretrustseal.org).…”

Research Data Management and Data Stewardship Competences in University Curriculum

“…The FAIR Data Maturity Model [24] which was developed and is maintained by the RDA community [25] provides a set of compliance indicators to assess the level of implementation of the FAIR principles and can be used for defining policy, research and infrastructure related competences in Data Stewardship and data management.…”

An automated solution for measuring the progress toward FAIR research data

“…Consequently, to date, much of existing work on FAIR assessment focuses on what needs to be measured, which led to the development of indicators (also called metrics or criteria) elaborating the principles; e.g., Research Data Alliance (RDA) FAIR Data Maturity Model. 7 One of the open questions around the FAIR assessment has been how to measure the FAIRness of the scientific data in practice. 4 Several manual assessment tools (as provided in the section ''related work'') have been piloted but are primarily intended to engage and educate research communities to make their data FAIR.…”

“…Consequently, to date, much of existing work on FAIR assessment focuses on what needs to be measured, which led to the development of indicators (also called metrics or criteria) elaborating the principles; e.g., Research Data Alliance (RDA) FAIR Data Maturity Model. 7 …”

“…We built the metrics based on the indicators proposed by the RDA FAIR Data Maturity Model Working Group 7 and on prior work conducted by the project partners. We have improved the metrics based on the feedback from FAIR stakeholders through various means; e.g., a focus group study, open consultation, and pilot repositories.…”