The Research Data Alliance (RDA) Global Open Research Commons International Model Working Group (GORC-WG) has had a busy September, with multiple speaking engagements alongside an intense set of meetings to consolidate their version 1.0 of a commons attribute model. We are pleased to share that the GORC-WG model and accompanying report have entered a formal Request for Comment through RDA – the last opportunity for peer review before these supporting outputs are submitted for RDA endorsement.
Getting to a GORC model
In response to the global movement to implement national and cross-national or global commons, a RDA Interest Group was formed to work towards a community-developed typology for describing research commons, the Global Open Research Commons Interest Group (GORC-IG). The GORC-IG created a Working Group to develop an International Model describing the attributes of Global Open Research Commons.
The GORC-WG consolidated a large range of resources and expert feedback to generate the model, which consists of a number of elements, with associated categories, subcategories, attributes and features, to be considered when undertaking the development of a commons of any kind, at any stage. Although the categories, subcategories, attributes and features are marked as core, desirable or optional, the model does not mandate what should be implemented, or in what way; the decisions on what is relevant, and where resources should be invested will vary depending on the environment and priorities of the implementer.
The RDA GORC International Model Version 1.0 is presented in this request for comment as a spreadsheet. The accompanying report is a narrative document that provides background information about the initiative, describes its intent and intended audience, the method used to create it, and its structure and content. It also provides brief descriptions of communities and activities that have proposed to, or are currently, utilizing the model in different contexts, as well as next steps for work in this area. It is important to recognize that the model is aspirational in nature and not prescriptive, drawing on existing good practice and promoting inclusive approaches.
The GORC-IG and GORC-WG outputs work together
The GORC-WG supporting outputs are largely organized according to the GORC-IG typology and definitions of essential elements of commons, which were endorsed by RDA in July 2023. The GORC-WG outputs in turn provide a firm foundation for the GORC-IG as it seeks to create a roadmap for commons integration. They provide a firm, yet flexible, foundation for creating a set of recommendations and a roadmap for building the GORC. The realized vision of GORC will provide frictionless access to all research artefacts including, but not limited to: data, publications, software and compute resources; and metadata, vocabulary, and identification services to everyone, everywhere, at all times.
Interest and application of the model
The model is already being used in several contexts that are adapting and testing the model in real world situations. In some cases, the work is being used in the development of commons, while in other cases it is being utilized in other research infrastructure projects.
ITO research associate CJ Woodford, who is a co-chair of the GORC-WG and has been working on the GORC-WG project full-time since August 2022, presented the model and its application to open science at the International Symposium of Open Science Clouds in early September 2023 (ISOSC2023) along with fellow GORC-WG co-chair Andrew Treloar (read our article on the ITO at ISOSC2023!). Mark Leggott, the third GORC-WG co-chair, presented the model at the RDA Organizational Assembly Meeting on September 26th 2023 as an accompaniment to the request for comment. Then on September 28th 2023, CJ presented on the application of the GORC-WG model to artificial intelligence considerations for commons developers at the RDA Artificial Intelligence and Data Visitation Working Group Webinar “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Building Responsible Open Science Infrastructures”.
In addition to informal discussions and promotions of the model by GORC-WG members, we are looking forward to seeing how the model is used and tested directly as well as how it is applied to address specific challenges commons developers face.
Review the model before October 20th, 2023!
The RDA Request for Comment on the GORC-WG supporting outputs is open until October 20th, 2023. Comments and suggestions are encouraged, and can be left on the online documents, as comments on the request for comment page, or sent directly to CJ at ito-ra1@oceannetworks.ca.