Speaker
Dr
Jamie Shiers
(CERN)
Description
2012 saw the publication of the Blueprint Document from the DPHEP study group (DPHEP-2012-001). A summary of this document was used as input to the Krakow workshop on the future European Strategy for Particle Physics and it is to be expected that Data Preservation will be retained in the updated strategy to be formally adopted by the CERN Council in May 2013.
The same year also saw a number of other important events directly related to data preservation and data management in the wider sense.
In July, the European Commission published a Recommendation on “access to and preservation of scientific information” and a workshop was held in October to investigate the level of European and International coordination that was desired in this area (with an obvious conclusion). In conjunction, various funding agencies are adding requirements on data preservation and open access plans to future funding calls.
In parallel, an activity now named “The Research Data Alliance” (RDA) was established with support from the US, the EU and Australia (other countries in Asia-Pacific are expected to join) “to accelerate and facilitate research data sharing and exchange” and a working group on data preservation is in the process of being established. There are very clear signs that the output of the RDA will have a direct influence on funding as part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme and presumably also elsewhere in the world.
Activities related to these events also allowed us to strengthen our collaboration with numerous other disciplines: not only those with whom we have long had ties, such as Astronomy and Astrophysics, but also other scientific communities as well as arts and humanities, all of whom are deeply involved in data preservation activities.
Basking in the scientific results of the LHC in 2012, there is a clear halo effect to be exploited.
Following the proposal by the CERN Director for Research and Scientific Computing to support the requested position of a DPHEP project manager (for an initial period of 3 years), DPHEP is moving from being a study group to be an active international and interdisciplinary collaboration. An initial set of goals is listed in the DPHEP Blueprint and is currently being actively worked on.
This presentations outlines the rapid progress that was made particularly in the second half of 2012 as well as the exciting opportunities for the future. It is framed in terms of a simple “vision” based on the Open Archival Information System model.
Summary
The key services required for long-term data preservation will be high-lighted, as well as the role of LTDP in the future European Strategy for Particle Physics.
Primary author
Dr
Jamie Shiers
(CERN)
