IDCC27 Workshop 8: Reaching maturity in RDM and FAIR practices

Workshop 8 : Reaching maturity in RDM and FAIR practices through organizational co-learning and curious dialogue Workshop Description: This workshop provides participants with practical methods to advance FAIR data stewardship and organisational data management maturity, extending the focus beyond FAIR metrics at project level. The format combines introduction to the methodology with guided group discussions and maturity assessments. The workshop welcomes data stewards, research support, IT and security personnel from research organisations. Achieving FAIR data management maturity is fundamentally an organisational challenge involving people, processes and collaboration. Data stewards may encounter resistance to changing established ways of working due to differing legal, security and data protection concerns, or simply due to misunderstandings or lack of vision. When organisations jointly recognize the value of FAIR, steps towards maturity improvement have been taken. The workshop introduces a co-creation approach developed through research data management (RDM) consultations conducted by Fairdata services in Finland with HEIs in 2025-2026. The method brings together expertise from different professional backgrounds to build a shared understanding of the prerequisites for good data management and FAIR maturity. Participants will exchange experiences and identify common organisational challenges in implementing FAIR practices. Simulated FAIR maturity assessments covers six dimensions: 1. Data governance and management 2. Processes 3. Roles and operating models 4. Researcher support services 5. Data preservation practices 6. Commitment to FAIR and Open Science, including policies and service architecture During the group work, participants will simulate and evaluate FAIR maturity, assess organisational challenges, and identify barriers and enablers. Based on these findings, groups will co-create roadmaps outlining concrete FAIR implementation actions. In the final discussion, groups will present their roadmaps, while other participants constructively challenge proposed solutions from different organisational perspectives and responsibilities. The workshop demonstrates how co-creation and curious dialogue can help organisations move from fragmented understanding towards a shared vision of FAIR data management and organisational maturity. Agenda 8:30 - 9:00 Registration 9:00 – 9:30 Introduction for the workshop 9:30 – 10:20 Data management and reference architecture - Data governance reference architecture - Data management workshops - Organization preparations for full assessment 10:20 – 10:40 Coffee break 10:40 – 11:10 Maturity assessment 11:10 – 11:30 Group discussion for development actions 11:30 – 12:00 End discussion and Conclusions 12:00 - 13:00 Lunch