Presentation given to the ARDC Skilled Workforce Summit on data capabilities, reflecting on international lessons

1. Thoughts on skills
Sarah Jones
Digital Curation Centre
sarah.jones@glasgow.ac.uk
Twitter: @sjDCC
ARDC Skills Summit, 29-30th July 2019, Sydney
• What skills are needed by whom?
• How should those skills be acquired?
• Challenges on the horizon

2. Data skills landscape
ARDC Skills Summit, 29-30th July 2019, Sydney
Research community Support community
Knowledge of research discipline
Knowledge of data management and curation
Data scientist
Research Software Engineer
e-Research
Data librarian
Digital preservation
Data steward
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3. Who needs to know what?
• Can researchers be consciously incompetent of RDM?
• Can support staff know nothing of research?

4. CODATA/RDA Data Science Schools
Curriculum covering:
• Open Science & RDM
• Ethical use of data
• Data analysis
• Data visualisation
• Machine learning
• Computational infrastructure
http://www.codata.org/working-groups/
research-data-science-summer-schools
ARDC Skills Summit, 29-30th July 2019, Sydney 4

5. CLIR Postdoctoral Fellowships
• Offers recent PhD graduates the chance to develop
research tools, resources, and services
• Brings research skills into library community
• Increases data curation knowledge in research
• Provides an ongoing networking fora for fellows
https://www.clir.org/fellowships/postdoc
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6. Data stewards @ TU Delft
• Provide disciplinary support for data management & sharing
• Every Faculty has a dedicated data steward
• All have a research background
• Data stewards are employees of the Faculty
• Coordinated by Marta Teperek in Library
• Paper describing programme:
https://doi.org/10.2218/ijdc.v13i1.604
• Blog: https://openworking.tudl.tudelft.nl
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7. Data Curation Network
• A shared staffing model for digital curation to expand
beyond what any single institution might offer alone
• Allows partner institutions to tap into subject or technical
expertise at other institutions
• Growing network with long-term aim to level playing field
for smaller, less-resourced institutions
• Currently addressing sustainability plan / business model
• Lisa Johnston at Minnesota is PI
https://datacurationnetwork.org
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8. 1. Have to go beyond the classroom
ARDC Skills Summit, 29-30th July 2019, Sydney 8

9. 2. Recognise the value of all roles
“FAIR data should be recognised as a core research
output and included in the assessment of research
contributions and career progression. The provision of
infrastructure and services that enable FAIR data must
also be recognised and rewarded accordingly.”
Hodson, S, Jones, S et al. (2018) Turning FAIR into Reality: Final report and
action plan from the European Commission Expert Group on FAIR data.
https://doi.org/10.2777/1524
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10. 3. Provide career pathways
UKRSE case study
• Coined the title “Research
Software Engineer”
• Advocacy campaign to raise
awareness of role
• Establish institution wide
research software groups
 15 at UK unis
https://doi.org/10.2777/1524
case study on p49
CODATA/RDA schools model
• Act as ambassadors and
teach peers back home
• Students return as helpers
and get new learnings
• Many have gone on to run
their own schools
• Influential for their careers
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Oscar’s storyMarcela’s story

11. 4. Coordinate internationally
ARDC Skills Summit, 29-30th July 2019, Sydney 11
Share expertise on
delivering skills
Reach consensus
on curricula
Lobby for data management becoming
part of core research skills curricula
Act as a hub for reusable
training materials
Provide the
professional
support
network

12. INTERNATIONAL
DIGITAL
CURATION
CONFERENCE
Collective Curation:
the many hands that
make data work
#idcc20
www.dcc.ac.uk/events/idcc20
Organised by
www.dcc.ac.uk www.dri.ie
2020
17 – 20 February 2020
Dublin, Ireland12