Ms Trish Radotic1, Ms Hilary Hanahoe2, Dr Shalini Kurapati2
1Australian Research Data Commons, Australia, 2Research Data Alliance,
Biography:
Hilary Hanahoe is the Secretary General of the Research Data Alliance (RDA), an international, non-profit, volunteer organisation addressing the need for open and interoperable sharing and re-use of research data and building the social, technical and cross-disciplinary links to enable such sharing and re-use on a global scale.
Currently, RDA has a community of over 14,500 individual data professionals from 151 countries collaborating on different open science and open data activities, operating under six fundamental guiding principles of openness, consensus, harmonisation, community-driven, inclusivity, not for profit and technology neutrality. Hilary is passionate about the work of the Research Data Alliance and its vibrant, volunteer community working to enable the open sharing and reuse of data across the globe.
Abstract:
Background
The accelerating influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on research data, data management, and Open Science presents urgent and complex challenges. While the Research Data Alliance (RDA) traditionally evolves through community-led, bottom-up initiatives, the scale and immediacy of AI’s impact have prompted a rare top-down approach to identifying and addressing priority areas. This initiative aims to catalyse global collaboration to build the social and technical bridges needed to meet AI-related data challenges.
Method
RDA convened a series of structured discovery workshops with its Organisational Members – representing universities, research institutions, and infrastructure bodies globally. These sessions explored where AI intersects with research data practices and data management, revealing high-priority themes requiring immediate community action.
Results
The workshops surfaced a set of thematic priorities, with findings highlighting both immediate gaps and opportunities for new RDA Working and Interest Groups to solve these AI-related data challenges.
Conclusion
This presentation shares the key outcomes from the AI discovery initiative and outlines next steps for community engagement. As AI reshapes the research data landscape, we call on the global e-research and data community to take up this challenge – forming the collaborative groups needed to build shared solutions and ensure that data-driven research in the AI era remains open, trustworthy, and impactful.