Earlier this year, the new EU funded project FIDELIS kicked off in Helsinki, Finland. The project will harmonise the definition of what makes a digital repository trustworthy in the context of the EOSC. It will provide a framework for repositories to support each other, not only in becoming, but also in remaining trustworthy and FAIR-enabling (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) over time.

Within its three-year lifetime, FIDELIS will: 

• set up, develop, and operate a European network of trustworthy repositories, with a consulting role for FSD and CESSDA Main Office. 

• foster harmonisation and interoperability across repositories - with FSD co-leading this work, the CESSDA team (including GESIS and UKDS) will participate in generating an overall matrix of repository capabilities and characteristics, and support repositories’ efforts to improve, align and federate with EOSC as TDRs. 

• strengthen the upskilling of repositories and expansion of the network, offering both an active training programme (with the participation of GESIS) and a support programme for the implementation (led by FSD).

Thanks to CESSDA’s connection to the EOSC and the OSCAR project, among other projects and initiatives, CESSDA will also bring ideas and suggestions to maximise synergies and help the Network to become recognised as the advocator of trustworthy digital research repositories.

A trusted network of digital repositories

The need for a network of Trustworthy Digital Repositories (TDRs) in Europe for synchronised and collaborative data practices in European repositories, of which there are nearly three hundred, was outlined in the 2022 working paper “Towards a European network of FAIR-enabling Trustworthy Digital Repositories.” The paper concluded that “So far there is no coordinated bottom-up effort to create a European network of FAIR-enabling TDRs. A clear desire for such a network has previously been expressed by the community,” which lay the groundwork for FIDELIS to begin establishing a healthy, diverse and self-sustaining network of TDRs.

Early in the project’s lifecycle, FIDELIS will establish a European network of FAIR-enabling trustworthy digital repositories that will live on after the project finishes and represent its member repositories to key stakeholders on important matters (e.g. policies and funding). Furthermore, the FIDELIS project will support the development of repositories and expand the emerging network through an active training, engagement, and support programme that includes cascading grants for repositories to implement the solutions delivered by the project. 

FIDELIS Project Coordinator and Director of Internal Collaboration and Partnerships Unit at CSC (IT Center for Science Ltd), Damien Lecarpentier, says FIDELIS represents a significant step forward in ensuring the long-term sustainability and trustworthiness of digital repositories within the European Open Science Cloud:

“By harmonising standards, fostering interoperability, and building a resilient network of trusted repositories, FIDELIS will lay a solid foundation for preserving Europe’s research data assets for generations to come. This initiative not only strengthens EOSC’s capacity to support data-driven science but also advances open science practices on a European and global scale.”

The FIDELIS consortium is composed of 24 organisations from across Europe that cover generic digital repositories at national level in Finland, France, Norway, and Serbia and discipline-specific repositories from Social Sciences and Humanities, Biomedical Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Physical Sciences. Several FIDELIS partners offer expertise in research outreach, stakeholder engagement, capacity building and policy making.

The CESSDA team, comprising Service Providers from Finland (FSD), the UK (UKDS), and Germany (GESIS), brings to FIDELIS a research community in the social sciences with specific requirements and expertise relevant to the development of the FIDELIS Network. It will serve as a “network beacon.” Service Providers in Norway (Sikt) and the Netherlands (DANS) also participate.

FSD, UKDS, and GESIS form a solid foundation of repositories that will be used to test and pilot FIDELIS’s ideas throughout the project. They can act as “early adopters” and future members of the FIDELIS Network.

Group photo from the launch event of FIDELIS and EDEN. Photo: Andrea Greco, Trust-IT Services

FIDELIS and EDEN: two projects with a common goal

FIDELIS’ sister project EOSC EDEN also started up at the same time. EDEN will focus on longterm data preservation aspects, by creating a framework to identify what data are candidates for digital preservation based on the assessment of the usage of data and its quality and benefits to science and society. It will also develop a model for re-appraisal of data and test its usability with relevant communities, and it will develop tools and services to automate certain preservation actions.

“EOSC EDEN has the opportunity to become the reference point in Europe for digital preservation and curation practices. Different communities and scientific disciplines tend to have their own data quality standards, curation procedures and digital preservation methodologies. Our mission is to understand the current landscape, identify common standards and practices, and provide solutions and new approaches that help institutions in selecting and preserving high-quality FAIR research outputs,” says Any Märkälä, EOSC EDEN Coordinator and Project Manager.

While CESSDA is not directly participating in EOSC EDEN, two of its Service Providers, UKDS and DANS, are involved. EDEN and FIDELIS are designed to complement each other. They will collaborate in gathering user requirements for digital preservation and FAIR-enabling frameworks and services. Together, they will support the development of a European distributed infrastructure for digital preservation, curation, and access.