WP5 aims to facilitate the use of existing platforms, portals and frameworks for global distribution of data and dataservices for environmental research infrastructures (following commonly denoted platforms), with a special focus on the GEOSS Common infrastructure and leveraging existing initiatives and organizations like the Research Data Alliance (RDA), ISCU-FutureEarth, IGFA-Belmont Forum, ICSU-WDS, NSF-Earthcube, DataOne, and other similar institutions.
This work package aims:
- to investigate the landscape of global data distribution platforms; investigate their scientific and geographic coverage, their functionalities and usage among environmental RIs in and outside EU with special emphasis on harmonization and interoperability of data. The focus will be on Arctic Research, Marine and Biodiversity sciences;
- to identify current impediments as well as future challenges hindering environmental RIs use of available global data distribution platforms;
- to increase the knowledge of the global data and services platforms as well as educating the research, education and data managers of environmental platforms in the practical data and services registration;
- to facilitate improvement of the global data and services platforms based on evaluations from the data and data-services providers identifying the needs of the research infrastructures and communicating these finding on to managers of the global data and services platforms, who in turn will have a forum for evaluation of feasible technical solutions to practical issues. Facilitation of these technical solutions will keep in mind future needs and planning horizons.
Through these activities COOP+ WP5 will continue a dialog, already started with US in the COOPEUS project, and thereby be an important link among global environmental RIs including also those from Canada, Australia and Brazil, with the data and data-services providers and the global data and data-services platforms taking the growing needs of users as the guiding principle.