Open Data Infrastructure for Social Science and Economic Innovations (ODISSEI)
Published April 17, 2026 | Version v1
Report Open

Action Plan Towards FAIR Implementation in the Dutch Social Sciences and Humanities

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • 2. ROR icon University of Twente
  • 3. ROR icon Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 4. Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Utrecht
  • 5. ROR icon Data Archiving and Networked Services

Contributors

  • 1. Garaadsiin Consulting Limited
  • 2. City University of Mogadishu
  • 3. TDCC-SSH
  • 4. ROR icon Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • 5. ROR icon Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • 6. ROR icon Deltares
  • 7. ROR icon University of Groningen
  • 8. ROR icon University of Humanistic Studies
  • 9. ROR icon Tilburg University
  • 10. ROR icon University of Aruba
  • 11. ROR icon Utrecht University
  • 12. ROR icon Leiden University
  • 13. ROR icon Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 14. ROR icon Huygens Institute for History and Culture of the Netherlands
  • 15. Network of European Cinema Studies
  • 16. Imming Impact | IM Studio
  • 17. ROR icon Maastricht University
  • 18. ROR icon Data Archiving and Networked Services
  • 19. ROR icon Erasmus MC

Description

Over the past years, many research infrastructures, research performing organisations (RPOs), and funders have expressed their commitment to the FAIR principles. - i.e., ensuring that digital research objects (such as data, software, training materials) are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Yet, implementing the FAIR principles remains a significant challenge across the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in the Netherlands, leaving a gap between the ambitions as outlined in policies and guidelines, and actual practices. This is due to a combination of technical/infrastructural constraints (for example, unavailability of semantic resources for meaningful data annotation for interoperability) and organisational aspects (such as insufficient recognition for time investment into making data FAIR, lack of a clear organisational structure that sustains FAIR data generation). 

The Action Plan towards FAIR Implementation in the SSH addresses these challenges with a focus on the practical realities. Its purpose is twofold: first, to provide a clear overview of the key bottlenecks that stand in the way of effective FAIR implementation. Second, to propose concrete and actionable steps that stakeholders can take to move forward and reduce the gap between FAIR ambitions and practices. While many reports and roadmaps already exist, this Action Plan is unique in its focus on the practical realities of those working with RDM and FAIR in the SSH: the data stewards, repository managers, infrastructure providers, researchers, and policy officers who navigate the FAIR data principles in their daily work.

Files

UntanglingFAIR_ActionPlan_Rev2.pdf

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Additional details

Funding

Dutch Research Council
Untangling FAIR implementation in the Dutch SSH ICT.TDCC.001.003