Member Highlight: First Nations Economics

29 Jun 2026 | Member Highlights

First Nations Economics (FNE) is an Aboriginal-led, Supply Nation-registered charity with a clear vision: to achieve social, cultural, and economic prosperity for First Peoples. FNE is deeply committed to this vision and works to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through expert advice, advocacy, and genuine lived experience. FNE works in economic policy, analysis, research, monitoring, and evaluation and collects, uses, and shares datasets in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS).

FNE’s commitment to using accurate, culturally informed, and actionable data in their decision making processes positions them as an exemplary partner for WDS, which similarly promotes best practices and the use of reliable data to inform decisions. Moreover, both organizations value culturally informed data to support indigenous communities. FNE became an associate member of WDS in June 2026.

Member Highlight: EarthScope Consortium

29 Jun 2026 | Member Highlights

EarthScope Consortium is a global community of employees, scientists, scholars, and educators whose goal is to advance understanding of the Earth and its physical systems by democratizing access to geophysical instrumentation, observations, and practices. The organization serves as a steward of geophysical facilities, supporting long-term, fair, and open access to instrumentation, observations, and established practices. Collaboration is emphasized within a broad community, with employees encouraged to find solutions through trust, teamwork, and communication.

EarthScope is well suited for partnership with WDS as both organizations value the importance of open access to the scientific community and strive to increase open access when possible. The democratization of access to geophysical instrumentation, observations, and practices through open access to their data repository shows their commitment to open science and further illustrates the value in their partnering with WDS. EarthScope Consortium became a candidate member of WDS in June 2026.

Call for Applications to Host International Data Week (IDW) 2029

16 Jun 2026 | News

International Data Week is organised by:

CODATA logo
World Data System logo

CODATA advances global collaboration to improve the availability, usability, and stewardship of research data, promoting Open Science across disciplines.

Research Data Alliance (RDA) develops and implements community-driven infrastructure and best practices to enable open sharing and reuse of data worldwide.

World Data System (WDS) supports trusted scientific data repositories and services, advocating for accessible, high-quality, and reproducible research data.

TOGETHER, THESE FOUNDING ORGANISATIONS ARE INVITING PROPOSALS TO HOST THE SEVENTH EDITION OF IDW IN SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2029.

APPLICATION PROCESS & DEADLINE

Applications should be sent by email to all of the IDW founding organisation representatives (contacts in the IDW2029 Call for Applications document) no later than 2 November 2026, in electronic format following the requirements of and template included in the above linked document.

CONFERENCE OBJECTIVE:

The primary objective of the IDW conference is to bring together a large, representative portion of the global data community. Previous editions have been highly successful in fostering collaboration, innovation, and impact. As the global landscape evolves, the founding organisations seek local partners and venues that can help convey the excitement, mission, and urgency of these times in data science.

ENGAGEMENT:

International Data Week is a global and inclusive conference, dedicated to strengthening data communities worldwide. The founding organisations are keen to engage with cities and countries where IDW or related meetings have not previously been held. Applications from Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) are strongly encouraged; proposals from the High Income Economies should show how they will work with the founding organisations to maximise participation from LMICs. Wherever the proposal comes from, it will be important to demonstrate how the partnership will advance the missions of the founding organisations, ensure the impact of IDW, and enhance membership of and engagement with the three organisations.

Applications should demonstrate that local hosts have access to both a suitable physical venue and a virtual conference platform; strong support from local organisations and government; good connections to universities, industry, and research organisations in the country and region; and solid financial support.

CONFERENCE FORMAT: 

IDW 2029 is envisioned as a four-day conference that integrates the activities of a SciDataCon international conference and an RDA Plenary Meeting. IDW includes both research sessions and focused working meetings, as well as broad plenary sessions of general interest. The days before and after each conference will be set aside for the business and governance meetings of CODATA, RDA, and WDS, as well as potentially other co-located meetings.

While the primary purpose of the call for applications is to identify a host for the 2029 edition, applications received may also be considered for the 2031 edition.

IDW2029 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS DOCUMENT

Member Highlight: Environmental Information Data Centre

2 Jun 2026 | Member Highlights

The Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC) is the United Kingdom’s national data center for terrestrial and freshwater sciences and accepts environmental data in re-usable formats for curation, including long-term storage and public dissemination. They assist researchers in ensuring that the data they produce are curated appropriately for the long-term, guaranteeing their security, accessibility, and re-usability for the user community. Additionally, they provide advice on best practice for data management during a project’s lifetime and assistance in depositing data with the EIDC for long-term curation.

EIDC’s commitment to long-term data preservation and data reusability aligns well with the WDS mission. Their continued efforts to accept and manage data that is accessible and reusable, as well as their goal of long-term curation for acquired data, make them an excellent fit for WDS. EIDC became a regular member of WDS in October 2019.

Member Highlight: DataCite

2 Jun 2026 | Member Highlights

DataCite is a global organization that provides Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) to research data, other research outputs, and resources, such as samples, preprints, software, etc. DataCite offers organizations in the research community the opportunity to register PID metadata to their research outputs and resources, which allows them to become discoverable. The metadata associated with the outputs and resources are then made available to the community, which helps strengthen the research ecosystem.

DataCite is a strong partner for WDS, as both organizations are actively working to promote open science and increase the adoption of PIDs among researchers and organizations. By providing PIDs and allowing PID metadata to be registered by organizations, DataCite is strengthening the research community through data findability and research connections, which correlates well with WDS’ mission. DataCite became an associate member of WDS in September 2014.