From 7 to 16 April in Edinburgh, Scotland, Latvian data stewards participated in intensive data steward training provided by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) — one of the world's leading data steward expertise centres with extensive international experience in research data management, skills and competence development.
The training was attended by data stewards from Rīga Stradiņš University, Riga Technical University, the University of Latvia, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, the Central Statistical Bureau and the Higher Education and Science IT Shared Services Centre.
During the training, participants gained in-depth knowledge of research data management throughout the research cycle to ensure secure, high-quality, regulatory and requirement and FAIR-principle-compliant work with data. Topics relevant to research data management were also discussed:
- basic principles of open science and research data openness
- ethical aspects of research data management, their protection and the nuances of sensitive data processing
- development of a research data management plan and use of the DMPonline tool
- storage, sharing and licensing of research data
- research data repositories and their selection
- creation and improvement of research data management services in organisations, etc.
The training participants also had to perform practical tasks, analyse the practices of various institutions and solve specific problem cases that data stewards encounter in their daily work. DCC experts generously shared their practical experience and knowledge accumulated over more than 20 years.
During the training, not only was valuable knowledge acquired, but also cooperation between stewards was strengthened, which will effectively allow for the coordination of research data management initiatives in Latvia. This experience serves as an essential step towards unified research data management in line with best world practices and will also help institutions adapt to modern international requirements.
This training is part of a project aimed at improving research data management skills in Latvian higher education and research institutions and improving research data management practices. Within the project is being developed the Latvian National Research Data Repository DataverseLV, which complies with FAIR principles and is planned to be integrated into the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). A cooperation network for Latvian research data management specialists (data stewards) has also been established, providing these experts with the necessary training and knowledge to implement good practices in Latvia.
