As an international, consensus-driven, community based organisation, the Research Data Alliance (RDA) has been asked to leverage on the global RDA data community to support the urgent Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
As a response, RDA has set up a fast track Working Group titled the “RDA COVID-19 Working Group”.
The objective of this Working Group is to clearly define detailed guidelines on data sharing and re-use under the present COVID-19 circumstances to help researchers follow best practices to maximize the efficiency of their work. The guidelines will focus on the management of data originating from different data sources and the development of a system for data sharing in public health emergencies that supports scientific research. This group will provide recommendations on the creation of a common framework and the tools and processes which should be embedded in research practice. Guidelines will adhere to FAIR and other principles and specificities related to omics data, clinical research data and epidemiological data.
The RDA COVID-19 Working Group, which operates according to the RDA guiding principles of Openness, Consensus, Balance, Harmonization, Community-driven, Non-profit and technology-neutral, is OPEN TO ALL. To join, log into the RDA website (or register for free if you are not a member) and then join the group at https://www.rd-alliance.
For those who join this group, online collaborative working documents, bi-weekly meetings and frequent updates will be communicated via the group web page and mailing list over the coming days.
This group will work at an unprecedented speed, to deliver a first set of recommendations in 4 weeks, by 15 April 2020, and is co-chaired by:
- Juan Bicarregui, Head of Data Division, UKRI-STFC & EOSC Executive Board
- Anne Cambon Thomsen, Emeritus Research Director CNRS & RDA Ambassador for Health Sciences & Research Ethics
- Sarah Jones, Associate Director, Digital Curation Centre (DCC) & EOSC Executive Board
- Mark Leggott, Executive Director, Research Data Canada & RDA Council Co-Chair
- Priyanka Pillai, Health Informatics Specialist, University of Melbourne
If you would like further information, please contact Hilary Hanahoe, RDA Secretary General at hilary.hanahoe@rda-