FAIR together: The Nordic Data Stewardship Network
In 2016, the principles for FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data were published. Since then, they have been adopted as good research practice by various research communities and organisations worldwide.
Typically a research project’s data management plan appoints a data steward as the person responsible for managing research data in accordance with current legislation, commitments to funding bodies, and relevant policy documents. Data stewards draw up necessary and adequate documentation of the produced data and ensure that it is made available in connection with publication, and that it comes with sufficient documentation to really be findable and reusable.
Research institutions often strive for data sovereignty. This is done by ensuring that exclusive ownership rights to publish and reuse research data as well as access rights to use this research data in the future stay with the institution and are not lost to other actors. The FAIR principles were also introduced in a communication by the European Commission in February 2020 as a mechanism to increase and foster data interoperability between and within sectors.
The Nordic Data Stewardship Network (NDSN) is a collaborative initiative aimed at strengthening data stewardship across the Nordic countries, enforcing it as a recognised profession and increasing skills that are relevant in managing data. The initiative was established in 2025 to fill the gap after the end of Skills4EOSC and is hosted by Datice, the University of Iceland’s data service and archive for Icelandic research data. In recognition of its history in advocating the FAIR principles through training, as host of the Nordic-Baltic FAIR data forum, and after soliciting two reports on the topic, NeIC participates in the steering of the initiative.
You can read more about NDSN here.
Advancing common goals: NDSN Hybrid Seminar
The first NDSN Hybrid Seminar was co-organised by CSC and NeIC in Espoo on 6 May 2026. Of the 117 registered participants, some 40 attended on-site. A wide range of titles were represented among the speakers as well as the audience, showcasing exactly how efficiently the network brings together experts with varying backgrounds but a shared interest in managing data. Before this seminar, NDSN secured a foothold by hosting regular Data Management Plan online meet-ups and a collaborative online workshop with the RDA Data Steward Career Tracks Working Group.
The first hybrid seminar aimed at strengthening connections within the Nordic Data Stewardship Network, and at consolidating ideas on shaping the future of data stewardship. In addition to enlightening keynotes and parallel workshops, the programme included a session on NeIC’s experiences regarding training data stewardship. The presentation was given by Senior Advisors Abdulrahman Azab and Michaela Barth, both of whom have greatly contributed to NeIC’s efforts in this field. Their presentation concluded with several practical tips on how NDSN can carry on and enhance this work.
All presentations and a full summary of the event can be accessed here.
Our FAIR history
Before participating in the Nordic Data Stewardship Network, NeIC hosted several workshops on data services and data management from 2013 onward, leading to setting up a first data management working group in 2017. The working group compiled a report on The state of open science in the Nordic countries. Simultaneously, NeIC took up Zenodo as the primary platform for publications and started to offer training on FAIR data stewardship to enforce the adoption of FAIR principles and help researchers learn and follow them.
Between 2016 and 2020, more than 160 people participated in training arranged by NeIC and partners. The courses have provided foundational skills for competent data stewards and data managers with knowledge of the FAIR principles and how to apply them. Training events like this impact science by boosting the quality of research data.
Providing FAIR training was also a high priority in the EU-funded EOSC-Nordic project. One of the work packages focused on helping Nordic-Baltic repositories to become FAIR compliant and certified, and on promoting incentives for the uptake of FAIR data across the region. Among those efforts were numerous deliverables and a dedicated webinar series with altogether more than 300 participants throughout the whole series; about 80 per session. In 2021–2022, EOSC-Nordic increased FAIR skills in the Nordic-Baltic region by training more than 700 FAIR data stewards.
In September 2020, NeIC had again put together an expert group on FAIR Research Data Management. The goal was to develop a science case for Nordic collaboration that would best serve research communities, and their work resulted in a report in the following year on Nordic FAIR data collaboration opportunities.
From November 2022 onward, NeIC organised partially subsidised modular and hands-on FAIR data courses. Most courses were structured as hybrid learning events, with the first, more general part, arranged online and the hands-on part in Oslo. Almost 200 participants were trained this way. In conjunction, workshops with emphasis on experience sharing from data stewards and FAIRification use-cases were held.
The two produced reports demonstrate the active role NeIC has taken in shaping the transition towards open and FAIR data practices in the Nordic region. One of the recommendations in the more recent report was to establish a Nordic FAIR office to coordinate the various initiatives and interactions, and the Nordic Data Stewardship Network has so far been successful in doing this – and more.