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Wageningen University & Research to make important steps to FAIR data science

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December 13, 2018

Wageningen University & Research will have a sound FAIR data policy fully developed and implemented in the next five years, stated Arthur Mol, Rector Magnificus of Wageningen University & Research, at the FAIR Data Science for Green Life Sciences symposium yesterday in Wageningen.

Our research data will be as open as possible, as closed as needed,
Arthur Mol explained his ambition.

Reuse of research data will make our work more effective, and also increases transparency and opens possibilities for innovative breakthroughs. For achieving these breakthroughs using data science, domain expertise is of key importance.

To support researchers at WUR in effective data science and implementing FAIR principles, data stewards will be appointed. The Wageningen Data Competence Center (WDCC) will play a key role in developing and implementing the data management policy for WUR.

Symposium

A special symposium was organised by the WDCC on FAIR Data Science in green life sciences. FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reuseable data. Especially for reuseability of research data, the FAIR principles provide useful guidance.

The symposium brought together over 200 participants, 40 international speakers, 10 parallel sessions, and generated loads of interesting thoughts on how data can be made FAIR. A FAIRyfying challenge was organised in which researchers and data specialists were challenged to develop a FAIR Data Point in two days’ time.

Click here for an impression of the symposium.

Strategic Plan

Data and data science will play a crucial role in the future of agri food and life sciences. WUR is determined to continue contributing to developments in this field: data science and digitalisation plays a key role in WUR’s strategic plan for 2019-2022. Investments in this topic will be made through a special investment theme Digital Twins and the theme Data Driven & High Tech.