The Research Data Alliance Interest Group on Agricultural Data: Supporting a Global Community of Practice

Abstract

Efforts to address equity and inclusion in agricultural data infrastructures face numerous challenges. People and networks are widely distributed geographically. This means some solutions to data problems may arise regionally and independently, yet many people are not easily able to engage with their distant colleagues to learn about them or collaborate. In general, constraints on funding for such projects are often national rather than international, and travel funding is not equally distributed. Finally, the breadth of activity means interdisciplinary communication is important but difficult and hard to sustain. Addressing these challenges, the Research Data Alliance (RDA) has been a home for the Interest Group on Agricultural Data (IGAD) since 2013. In 2021, IGAD became the first example of a new type of RDA group – a Community of Practice. A future goal is to use this community of practice to put good regional or national work into practice via inclusive collaborations. This chapter reflects on the lessons learnt from the IGAD community of practice in its attempts to include new voices around the world.