The WorldFAIR project: enabling global interdisciplinary cooperation on integrating FAIR Data policy and practices in geochemistry with ten other disciplinary groups.

‘WorldFAIR: Global cooperation on FAIR data policy and practice’ is a European Commission funded project composed of 11 discipline and cross-discipline case studies drawn together by CODATA, the Committee on DATA of the International Science Councils Committee on DATA, and is supported by the Research Data Alliance. WorldFAIR is a diverse, global community effort that currently has 19 partners located in Africa, Australasia, Europe, and North and South America, representing organisations from research, government and industry. The 11 individual case studies are drawn from Chemistry, Nanomaterials, Geochemistry, Social Surveys, Population Health, Urban Health, Biodiversity, Agriculture, Oceans, Disaster Risk Reduction and Cultural Heritage. The WorldFAIR project aims to focus on the interoperability and reusability of research data products from both within and across disciplines by creating a Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework (CDIF).

The foundation of the CDIF will be a series of FAIR Implementation Profiles (FIPs) which will be used as a methodology for individual communities to express their FAIR practices and decisions for each of the 15 individual FAIR guiding principles. 

As an example of how this will work, the WorldFAIR’s Geochemistry case study is led by OneGeochemistry, an international network of national geochemical data infrastructure organisations. Initially an informal network with representatives from AuScope (Australia), GEOROC (Germany), EPOS Multi-scale Laboratories (Europe), EarthChem (US) and AstroMaterials (US). With the advent of WorldFAIR, OneGeochemistry has formalised it’s governance structure and is now a CODATA Work Group. Over the life of WorldFAIR, OneGeochemistry will work towards developing a community prototype FAIR Implementation Profile(s) for individual geochemical techniques, including the minimum defined variables, through workshops and consultations, and subsequently be responsible for their communication, publication and dissemination. The Geochemistry case study will work closely with the Chemistry case study and leverage relevant chemical standards and vocabularies wherever possible.

Through the development of community lead FAIR Implementation Profile(s) for geochemistry within a global Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework (CDIF), WorldFAIR and OneGeochemistry are both advancing the adoption of the FAIR data principles within Geochemistry and simultaneously enabling interoperability of geochemical research data products across the other ten discipline case studies.