Infrastructure and technology challenges

In this project deliverable we report on our work on infrastructural and technological barriers to Open Access and preservation of research data as identified by key stakeholder groups. Through a mix of qualitative, quantitative and document review methods, we identified five key barriers to successfully implementing Open Access to research data in Europe: data heterogeneity and issues of standardisation; accessibility and discoverability issues; data preservation and curation; data quality and assessability; and data security. We explore these issues in detail and present existing good practice, and technical and infrastructural solutions used to mitigate such barriers.
 
This work was conducted within the EU FP7 funded project RECODE, which focuses on developing policy recommendations for Open Access to Research Data in Europe. In particular, this work is coordinated by RECODE Work Package 2 (WP2), Infrastructure and technology. It distinguishes between different categories of stakeholders in terms of how the experience and respond to these challenges.