29 Apr 2025 | Member Highlights
The Joint Support-Center for Data Science Research (ROIS-DS), part of the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), was established in 2016 in Tokyo, Japan by ROIS as a joint-use, collaborative research institute for the integrated nationwide promotion of data science. ROIS-DS closely cooperates with other research institutions in ROIS and closely collaborates with their respective domestic and international research communities.
ROIS-DS handles a range of data in a wide variety of scientific research fields and promotes an open joint research program on data science to invite applications from external researchers to accelerate support and collaboration with external communities. Recently, the organization joined WDS as a Network member in February 2025. Read more about them here.
29 Apr 2025 | Member Highlights
DataFirst is a Research Unit and Data Service based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa that gives researchers online access to survey and administrative microdata from African countries. They also train African data managers in microdata curation, conduct research on the quality and usability of South African microdata, and work with African microdata producers to improve the quality of data products.
DataFirst aims for a data rich research-policy interface in South Africa where data reuse by policy analysts in academia serves to refine inputs to government planning. They have been a WDS Regular Member since 2013. Learn more about them here.
1 Apr 2025 | Member Highlights
The International Space Environment Service (ISES) has been the primary organization engaged in the international coordination of space weather services since 1962. ISES is a collaborative network of space weather service-providing organizations around the globe with the mission to improve, to coordinate, and to deliver operational space weather services. They also maintain the international geophysical calendar which coordinates and recommends dates for solar and geophysical observations which cannot be performed continuously.
ISES includes 22 Regional Warning Centers, four Associate Warning Centers, and one Collaborative Expert Center; their members share data and forecasts and provide space weather services to users in their regions. ISES has been a WDS Network Member since 2013.
1 Apr 2025 | Member Highlights
The Inter-University Upper Atmosphere Global Observation NETwork (IUGONET) is a collaborative project among Japanese universities and institutes aimed at sharing data obtained from various regions, including the solar surface, interplanetary space, and solar planets with the solar-terrestrial science community. Their member institutions conduct ground-based observations of the upper atmosphere, and IUGONET aggregates the metadata into a service that allows researchers to search for and access these data, and provide a variety of tools to facilitate comprehensive data analysis and contribute to education and capacity building,
IUGONET became a Network Member in December 2024 and we are pleased to welcome them to WDS and look forward to their sharing future contributions in advancing atmospheric data management.
5 Mar 2025 | Member Highlights
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has been dedicated to preserving and distributing oceanographic and marine data for over 55 years. Their multidisciplinary data holdings include physical, chemical, biological, and geophysical datasets assembled from diverse activities. NOC fulfills its responsibility by adopting robust standards—many of which it has helped to develop—in close cooperation with national and international data management partnerships and networks. Key networks include the Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Environmental Data Service (EDS), the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN), SeaDataNet, and EMODnet in Europe, as well as the Research Data Alliance (RDA) globally.
Additionally, NOC functions as the National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC) within the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO’s International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) program. NOC is funded by the UK Research and Innovation. They joined the World Data System as a Regular Member in December 2024. We are excited to welcome them to the WDS community and look forward to future collaborations.
For more information about NOC, visit their website.
5 Mar 2025 | Member Highlights
The Data Archive for Social Sciences in Bosnia and Herzegovina (DASS-BiH) became a Regular Member of the World Data System in December 2024, joining the global community of data stewards committed to the long-term preservation and sharing of research data. DASS-BiH plays a role in advancing the field of social science research by managing a national repository for data related to economics, political science, sociology, psychology, and other social science disciplines. Their mission is to ensure that high-quality data are accessible to researchers, students, and policymakers, fostering a deeper understanding of social trends and issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond.
In addition to data preservation, DASS-BiH offers a range of services, including data collection, validation, conversion, and distribution. The archive also maintains a specialized system for securely storing and disseminating datasets, ensuring their long-term integrity and accessibility. As a CoreTrustSeal certified repository, DASS-BiH upholds best practices in data stewardship and provides training and support to users. We are excited to welcome DASS-BiH to WDS and look forward to their contributions in advancing data sharing in the social sciences.
