2021 CDI Workshop

Plenary recording (Stream/Teams)

A roadmap for enabling the FAIR data principles at the USGS
Fran Lightsom and Viv Hutchison

Americans deserve answers from their government's data
Tod Dabolt, Chief Data Officer, Department of the Interior

Awards and Recognition
Join us for awards and recognition of CDI members.

Descriptions:

A roadmap for enabling the FAIR data principles at the USGS
Fran Lightsom and Viv Hutchison (USGS)
Project Team: David Govoni, Linda Debrewer, Natalie Latysh (all USGS), Wade Bishop (University of Tennessee), Shelley Stall (American Geophysical Union)
Extended abstract here and also attached.

In 2016, an interdisciplinary international group of 53 scientists provided a framework for addressing 21st century scientific data challenges in “The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship” (Wilkinson and others, 2016). The FAIR Principles are increasingly used as a guide to producing digital scientific products that are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR), especially to enable use in automated systems. Data aligned with the FAIR Principles will increase the efficiency of science integration capabilities such as those envisioned for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) EarthMAP initiative (see Jenni and others, 2017).

The characteristics of FAIR scientific products are well defined, but it is less clear how to facilitate consistency in the production and maintenance of FAIR data and other scientific products across the bureau. Our data are produced by hundreds of research projects, distributed among 65 science centers in 7 regions. After data are approved for release, they are managed in one of 33 USGS repositories and online data systems. The diversity of USGS data is illustrated by the topical range of the USGS mission areas: Core Science Systems, Ecosystems, Energy and Minerals, Natural Hazards, and Water Resources. To realize the EarthMap vision for automated, predictive, integrated science that provides timely and actionable results, USGS must provide knowledge and support services, and develop the skills, infrastructure, and culture that will enable uniform adoption of, and adherence to, FAIR data principles.

In 2019, the USGS Community for Data Integration (CDI) funded a project to convene a broadly representative workshop and produce a roadmap to enable FAIR at USGS. The workshop, held in Fort Collins, Colorado in September 2019, brought together 28 participants for 3 days to engage with the FAIR Principles, analyze USGS use cases, and discuss the roles of data producers and managers, data storage and catalogs, value-added services, and policy makers in the production of FAIR data. Workshop participants agreed that scientific reproducibility requires the extension of the FAIR Principles beyond data to include physical samples, research methods, software, and tools at USGS. Workshop discussions focused on how USGS can both support research teams in creating FAIR data, metadata, and other scientific products, and also support enterprise systems that maintain and leverage the products’ FAIRness.

The recommendations produced by that workshop were used to create the FAIR Roadmap. This Roadmap recommends nine interdependent strategies to be achieved through coordinated actions taken by different parts of the USGS. Most of these actions are recommended to the USGS CDI, the Core Science Systems Mission Area, and the Fundamental Science Practices Advisory Committee. Success will also depend on coordination with USGS management, repository managers, and support functions such as human resources, information technology, and public communication of research findings. An early action should be creating a coordinating council that includes representatives from the groups responsible for implementing the roadmap’s recommendations. The nine strategies, which will be presented in more detail in the published roadmap report, focus on enabling improvements to individual data products, providing infrastructure, and defining administrative activities to support an organizational culture that values FAIR. These nine strategies are:

Data Strategies

• Metadata improves FAIR for automated systems
• Research methods generate interoperable and reusable data
• Persistent identifiers improve FAIR

Infrastructure Strategies

• Repositories and data systems provide findability & access through unified, compatible methods
• Vocabulary services improve findability & evaluation of fitness for use
• Policy requirements improve consistency of products

Administrative Strategies

• Culture change, achieved through knowledge exchange, improves adoption of activities and techniques that improve FAIR
• Employee incentives improve the production of FAIR data
• Research, development, and participation in professional communities improve capabilities

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Jenni, K.E. and others, 2017, Grand challenges for integrated U.S. Geological Survey science—A workshop report: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2017–1076, 94 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171076
Wilkinson, M. D. and others, 2016, The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci. Data 3:160018 https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18.