At the International Data Week RDA Plenary 21, members of NFDI-MatWerk played a key role in showcasing the structured development of research data infrastructures.

Held in the historic city of Salzburg, this Research Data Alliance (RDA) plenary was a feature of International Data Week, which took place from 23 – 26 October. The conference, rich in collaborative opportunities, allowed for a comprehensive exploration of research data management issues through RDA working groups and interest groups. It shed light on the structured evolution of research data infrastructures, particularly through the lens of FAIR Digital Objects, with NFDI-MatWerk members playing a key role in these discussions.

Distinguished speakers Sirieam Hunke and Marius Politze from RWTH Aachen University shared the progress and future vision for the implementation of FAIR Digital Objects within the Coscine research data platform (title "Lessons Learned from Implementing FDOs in the Coscine RDM Platform - A view on FDOs Beyond Singular Files"). They highlighted the challenges and lessons learned from their journey, emphasizing the need for adaptable platforms capable of handling evolving data collections. This is in line with the broader goal of seamlessly integrating such platforms into the European Open Science Cloud, thereby enhancing international interoperability of services.

Andreas Pfeil from KIT further enriched the discourse by presenting the landscape of services and tools available to facilitate the FAIR Digital Object Framework, ensuring that complex research data are represented and managed in a consistent manner.

In the concluding discussions, the FAIR Digital Object concept was recognized as a technology-neutral blueprint that promises a future-proof methodology for representing research data, which is critical for sustainable scientific progress.