New data repository tool

2023-2024
BIRA-IASB teams have created countless datasets (observations & models) that are freely available on corresponding project sites. Nevertheless, modernisation required BIRA-IASB to host its own data repository tool.

In 2024, an outdated tool gave way to a new system that offers many more possibilities in terms of findability in the context of open data and FAIR principles. All this was visually overlaid with elements of the corporate identity.

Data in a European framework

A European law, called Data Act, aims to facilitate and promote the exchange and use of data, especially from research.

The international concept of FAIR principles is more and more used. When data are FAIR, they are:

  • Findable,
  • Accessible,
  • Interoperable and
  • Reusable.

How to be Findable? The best technical tool is to simply use a persistent identifier. We call it the DOI. A DOI is recognised everywhere on the internet and points directly to the data page. All DOI beginning with 10.18758 belong to BIRA-IASB.

To illustrate DOI, the above example image in the orange circle, created by Scriberia, is referenced with The Turing Way community, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3332807

New open source data management system

It is clear that open source technologies will continue to be an important part of any software project, especially in the research domain. The BIRA-IASB web developers decided to base the new tool on the existing open source software CKAN, a data management system that is being used worldwide.

It provides external access to the data created by the Institute. Since the multi-criteria search engine on the new portal is very efficient, it guides our website visitors, with many keywords, towards results containing interesting and amazing matches.

The new data repository site of BIRA-IASB is being optimised for Findability in search engines and connected to the official data portals of:

  1. Belgium on https://data.gov.be and
  2. Europe on https://data.europa.eu.

Our datasets are automatically shown everywhere.

In the new tool, BIRA-IASB scientists can easily create, duplicate and modify the metadata of their datasets. Metadata are simply explanations about the content of the dataset. One by one, BIRA-IASB scientists moved their datasets from the old repository to the new data repository so that the old repository website could finally be taken down.

Visual recognition through layout

Evaluations showed that our visitors did not recognise the old repository website as part of BIRA-IASB. Therefore, the web team applied the Institute’s visual guideline during the implementation of the data management system. The data repository website now has the same header as other team or project sites within our web domain.

Some 2024 results

The public version of the new tool was published in May 2024, engaging our scientists in upgrades of their old DOI, but also in the creation of new DOIs. The graph on the left clearly shows an intensive use of the new tool in the second half of 2024. It also shows that software can be referenced in the same tool. Of course, sharing code is just as important as sharing data.

By the end of 2024 we were offering more than 90 DOIs on our website. Hopefully this novelty effect will lead to 100 datasets very soon.

The Turing Way community
To illustrate DOI, this example image, created by Scriberia, is referenced with The Turing Way community, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3332807
Graph creation of new DOIs
The public version of the new tool was published in May 2024, engaging our scientists in upgrades of their old DOI, but also in the creation of new DOIs. The graph clearly shows an intensive use of the new tool in the second half of 2024.