D2.5 Final Report on Networking and Integration

This Deliverable D2.5 reports the work done in Tasks 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6, and follows on from the interim report at Month 36 (D2.4). Work done under Task 2.2 has been reported in D2.3.

The overall objective of WP2 is to “Extend and Support the ARIADNE community”. This has been achieved partly through online meetings, training events and conferences, social media, and promotional materials. There has also been a focus on engaging with new partners to bring them to the same level of awareness as those who participated in the previous project, and a particular aim to extend our coverage in central and south-eastern Europe. We have also worked with major associations and international bodies, such as the European Archaeological Council (EAC) and European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), to help promote a FAIR approach to archaeological data, and to inform strategic policy making. We have tried to target archaeological professionals and heritage managers, who may be less aware of ARIADNE than those working in academic and research institutions. In addition, we have worked closely with our international partners to extend the reach of ARIADNEplus beyond Europe.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a reduction in the number of face-to-face networking opportunities between M18 and M36; nearly all meetings had to be held online but this did not lead to any major deviations from the workplan. Face-to-face events resumed from summer 2022, with a major ARIADNEplus presence at the 2022 EAA and CHNT conferences. Since our interim report at M36, the ARIADNEplus portal has allowed us to demonstrate the benefits of data aggregation according to the enhanced AO-Cat data model, and this activity intensified during the final work period.

We have extended the ARIADNE community by creating a category of Associate partners. This has been hugely successful, with 17 organisations joining the consortium, in a self-funding capacity, but amounting to over 24 person months of discretionary effort. This has allowed us to provide integrated access to several additional internationally important datasets. Other organisations, such as the British Museum, have not joined as formal Associate partners, but have invested time and staff resource in working with an ARIADNE partner to provide access to their own data. Several of the European schools abroad, including French and British schools based in Athens and Ankara, have been keen to participate. Our emphasis on south-eastern Europe has attracted associate partners in countries such as North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and the Slovak Republic, where there has been little previous tradition of open access to research data in archaeology and heritage.

In conclusion, within the project lifetime ARIADNE has become established as a major component of the European e-infrastructure. It is certainly the largest research data aggregator within the Arts and Humanities, and a significant player across all disciplines. This leaves us with confidence for the future sustainability, and in the last few months of the current funded project we are exploring the best options to maintain the community we have established.