On May 28, 2025, the report meeting of the data stewards network established under the project “Support for the implementation of open science in practice, as well as creating solutions for research data sharing and participation in the European Open Science Cloud” was held at the premises of Riga Technical University. It brought together representatives of the Higher Education and Science IT Shared Services Center (VPC), the Ministry of Education and Science, the Central Statistical Bureau and the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development, as well as Riga Technical University (RTU), the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, the University of Latvia and Rīga Stradiņš University.
The meeting was opened by RTU Vice-Rector for Science Maira Indrikova, emphasising the importance of the project in the development of Latvia’s research infrastructure and the implementation of open science principles. Subsequently, the VPC project director, Kaspars Bērziņš, introduced the attendees to the initially set goals of the data stewards network project, its achievements to date, and the priorities for the next, final year of the project. Reports on the work done and the nearest plans were also provided by the coordinators of the data steward teams of each university represented in the network.
The main goals of the project so far have been to create a functioning research data management system by establishing a network of qualified data stewards that would provide direct support to researchers at various stages of research data management, as well as to introduce technical solutions and guidelines for convenient, high-quality and open science-compliant research data management. Currently, more than 20 specialists work in the data stewards network, providing services to approximately 60% of research and academic staff. The Latvian research data repository DataverseLV has also been created, and a Research Data Management Guide (in Latvian) has been developed.
The most important priorities for the future activities of the project were the processing of sensitive data and compliance with legal requirements, the development of ICT solutions, information events and education, as well as support for students in research data management issues. It is also planned to obtain the CoreTrustSeal international certification for the DataverseLV repository, participate in the Skills4EOSC competence centre network and continue to promote the integration of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions.
The next report meeting of the data stewards network is planned for the end of September this year. Further project activities can be viewed in the network event calendar.
