From Assessment to Action: ODATIS's Progressive Journey Toward FAIR Implementation in Ocean Sciences

ODATIS, the ocean data hub within France's Data Terra research infrastructure, demonstrates how systematic progression from assessment through certification to innovation translates FAIR principles into sustainable community practices. Through three interconnected initiatives, ODATIS provides a replicable model for implementing FAIR while respecting domain-specific requirements.

Infrastructure Foundation

ODATIS operates through ten specialized Data and Service Centers (DSC) serving 130+ French research entities in physical oceanography, biogeochemistry, coastal observations, seafloor mapping, and marine ecosystems. This territorial network connecting national research infrastructure with local researchers provides the organizational foundation for systematic FAIR adoption. Two platforms anchor the infrastructure: SEANOE, a certified repository providing DOIs and preservation, and Sextant, a geographic catalog implementing ISO 19115 and OGC standards.

Assessment: The COPILOTE Project

Before imposing solutions, ODATIS assessed current capabilities through COPILOTE using the FAIR Data Maturity Model (FDMM). Evaluations revealed heterogeneous maturity levels and identified barriers: insufficient metadata, limited controlled vocabularies, unclear licensing, and inadequate provenance tracking. Participatory assessment engaged data managers and researchers in structured dialogue, transforming abstract FAIR concepts into concrete criteria. COPILOTE produced tailored improvement roadmaps demonstrating how standardized frameworks can respect institutional diversity while driving collective progress.

Certification: CoreTrustSeal Achievement

Building on assessment findings, ODATIS DSC pursued CoreTrustSeal certification, documenting organizational infrastructure, digital object management, and preservation capabilities. Successfully certified repositories including SEANOE achieved formal recognition of their trustworthiness, providing researchers with confidence in long-term data preservation and accessibility.

Innovation: The SO'Odatis Project

Funded by France's National Fund for Open Science, SO'Odatis develops integrated services making FAIR intrinsic to workflows. Four initiatives include: launching a diamond open-access journal linking publications with datasets and software; extending Sextant to catalog software with DOIs and Software Heritage integration; developing automated data paper generation from metadata; implementing comprehensive training through the correspondent network.

Cross-Disciplinary Lessons

ODATIS's journey demonstrates critical principles. Assessment before intervention reveals actual barriers and capabilities, preventing misdirected effort. Formal certification embeds FAIR into organizational culture beyond projects. Sustainable adoption requires reducing researcher burden through automation and workflow integration, not adding compliance tasks. Territorial networks enable bidirectional knowledge flow between infrastructure and communities. Critically, FAIR implementation is iterative, each phase builds on previous achievements while identifying new opportunities.

ODATIS offers a concrete roadmap: rigorous assessment identifies gaps; certification drives organizational maturity; innovation develops enabling tools; community engagement ensures relevance. This progression provides a replicable model for infrastructures translating FAIR principles into community-supported practices across Earth and environmental sciences.