The Relationship of FAIR Digital Objects and Metadata in The FAIR Ecosystem: Questions and Considerations from the DDI-CDI Perspective

This session looks at the practical issues around the FAIR ecosystem which arose during the recent EOSC Co-Creation project “The Role of DDI-CDI for EOSC: Possible Uses and Applications”. It uses the investigation of how a cross-domain metadata standard, DDI-CDI, coordinates with FDOs, and ultimately fits into the FAIR ecosystem.

I. Overview: The FAIR Ecosystem in the EOSC Report, and the Capabilities of DDI-CDI
This presentation summarizes the description of the FAIR ecosystem as given in the EOSC report, and characterizes the roles identified for DDI-CDI. It examines the difficulties of defining a sufficient FDO which is also optimized for use.

II. FDOs and FAIR: Implementation Questions and Possible Solutions
This presentation explores many of the questions which arise from a practical examination of how FAIR systems using standards such as DDI-CDI can be deployed, relying on the FDO as a pivotal construct where the different information is brought together for use. These range from technical issues and questions about legacy systems to questions about how best to support adoption. The need to clearly identify the target audiences for supporting adoption is explored, and a consideration of their requirements given. Possible solutions suggested by earlier standardization efforts are identified.

III. FAIR Digital Objects: Data and Metadata
This presentation describes some of the work on FDOs and how they will be employed to act as the primary protocol for the transmission of data and metadata. While an FDO is a potentially limitless construct, the set of FDOs of significance in the sharing of research data and metadata across domains is more limited in scope. The intersection of these sets of requirements is presented.

IV. Toward a Typology of Metadata
Using DDI-CDI as an example, a possible framework for describing metadata referenced by FDOs is proposed as the basis for further discussion. This topic serves to bring the earlier presentations into focus, approaching the issues in a bottom-up fashion from the perspective of implementers and standards developers deploying systems for FAIR data sharing.