UKRDS John Milner

Background UKRDS is not to be a massive national data curation centre UKRDS is a framework to establish a coherent approach to research data management within the UK - “Causeways between Islands” UKRDS will provide a focus for relationships with international efforts UKRDS might not be called UKRDS

Four Key Elements Proposed Any data to be curated should have a value proposition (not necessarily monetary) that justifies the investment in proper curation by project funders Data management capability must be embedded within HE Institutions and probably funded on a cost recovery basis Data management must be planned and each institution should own a and operate a registry of data management plans, ideally built to a common standard and responsive to funder policies National co-ordination is essential to maintain coherence, develop international relationships, support the development of capability in HEIs and elsewhere and guide funder policy and standards. We have the ideal vehicle already in DCC

So What? Data management planning and capability in institutions is the most sustainable approach Because the planning and management ownership rests with the HEI the data can be held and curated anywhere and move over time if required Registry content should be discoverable, so that the whereabouts of a data set can always been found easily For storage and/or curation institutional or national/international subject based repositories or even commercial cloud could all fit the model

Issues While the UK has a rich landscape of facilities it lacks coherence A sustainable funding model does not exist Research Council policies are primitive in many cases Some Research Councils are reluctant to accept that direct funding of data management is a “must have”

Conclusion The engagement of researchers with Dryad fits the model Oxford is part of the UKRDS Pathfinder implementation together Bristol and Leicester so we can test our hypotheses HEFCE are minded to fund the Pathfinder work this year and a detailed proposal on the table, but what next?