As the world is shifting towards digitalization and sustainability and as artificial intelligence is being more widely used, the importance of effective research data management has become paramount. The FAIR data principles have been established as best practices for effective data management, making research data more findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable across various research domains. These principles align closely with sustainability goals by promoting transparency and efficiency in data sharing and usage.
FAIR data management can help researchers save time and resources by reducing unnecessary and repeated data collection and enabling existing datasets to be reused. This contributes to a more sustainable future. Moreover, metadata cataloguing enhances data findability and reusability which is a key to advancing cross-disciplinary collaborations and driving innovation in the development of sustainable technologies and policies.
Despite these benefits, FAIR data management and long-term data preservation present sustainability challenges. As the volume of data is growing exponentially, all organizations need to address the increasing energy demands associated with data collection, storage, processing, and preservation. Sustainable technologies and practices therefore need to be integrated throughout the entire research data lifecycle. The aim of the sustainable FAIR data management is to reduce the digital carbon footprint by managing the research data in a more sustainable way, without reducing the scientific and societal impact of the research.
Sustainability criteria can be incorporated into storage decisions during data management planning. It needs to highlight energy-efficient storage solutions, sustainable computing infrastructure, data minimization in the collection phase, strategic archiving of high-value datasets, and clear policies for the secure deletion or destruction of data once its retention period has expired.
At the UMCG, we have decided to start with the Digital Sustainability Certification program (GreenDiSC) for our team at the Digital Competence Center (DCC). This effort aims to help researchers assess and reduce their digital carbon footprint through certification and the integration of more sustainable digital practices. In addition, the UMCG collaborated with other UMCs in the Netherlands to run the national data challenge to clean up unnecessary data ranging from emails and digital files to data stored on different infrastructure solutions. By reducing unnecessary data storage and promoting more responsible data practices, we can contribute to environmental sustainability while also reducing storage and infrastructure costs. In this way, sustainable data management benefits both the environment and the efficient use of organizational resources.
This article is written by Kiana Moghaddam. Kiana is a Data Steward at the UMCG DCC. With a particular interest in the intersection of data and sustainability, she explores how organizations can manage data more efficiently while reducing their environmental footprint.
