Statement by the NFDI Expert Committee

In view of the expiry in 2028 of the agreement between the federal government and the federal states on the development and funding of a National Research Data Infrastructure (Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur, NFDI) of 26 November 2018 (see link below), the NFDI Expert Committee has set out its ideas regarding the future of the NFDI from 2029 onwards. These are based on the relevant experience and insights that the NFDI Expert Committee has gained as the evaluation body responsible for reviewing and assessing the NFDI consortia.

From the point of view of the NFDI Expert Committee, the key goal of a National Research Data Infrastructure must continue to be to strengthen the German research system and its sovereignty. For researchers in their pursuit of scientific knowledge and innovation, also in the area of interdisciplinary collaboration, it is essential for an NFDI not only to serve as a data repository and make data widely accessible but also contribute to the interlinking of data sets and to standardisation. 

In its statement, the NFDI Expert Committee describes what it sees as the essential characteristics of an NFDI. According to the Committee, consistently focusing on the actual needs of the scientific communities and ensuring national and international (especially European) compatibility are vital here, as is the development of overarching services and the establishment of common interoperable architectures. Users of NFDI services and institutions operating such services must be offered a reliable long-term perspective, not least by creating a reliable legal and organisational framework.

An NFDI conceived in this way can contribute significantly to achieving the above-mentioned goals, thereby underpinning national digital sovereignty overall, something that is essential in view of current developments in science, technology and politics, as well as those to be anticipated in the future.

Further Information

Statement by the NFDI Expert Committee on the future of the NFDI after the expiry of the agreement between the federal government and the federal states in 2028:

• https://zenodo.org/records/13961033

Bund-Länder-Vereinbarung zu Aufbau und Förderung einer Nationalen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) vom 26. November 2018 [Agreement between the federal government and the federal states on the structure and funding of National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) of 26 November 2018, available in German only]:

• www.gwk-bonn.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/Dokumente/Papers/NFDI.pdf

Contact at the DFG Head Office:

• nfdi@dfg.de