How an AI-ready National Data Library would help UK science

The UK National Data Library: Technical White Paper Challenge, initiated by Wellcome and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), sought visionary approaches to enhancing access to UK public sector datasets. Evaluated by an expert panel, this paper was recognised as a distinguished and successful response to the call, offering innovative insights for creating a National Data Library that benefits both the research community and the public good.

In this paper, we provide a technical vision for key enabling elements for the architecture of the National Data Library (NDL) with a strong focus on building it as an AI-ready data infrastructure through standardised vocabularies, automated analysis tools, and interoperability services. We follow ODI’s Multilayer Interoperability Framework (MIF) for data stewardship, covering central socio-technical aspects for the NDL, including user-centric approaches to service design and governance.