The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) released the Australian National persistent identifier (PID) Strategy in March 2024, outlining a vision to accelerate Australian research quality, efficiency and impact through universal use of connected persistent identifiers (PIDs). In Australia, PID services are provided by the ARDC and the Australian Access Federation, in collaboration with international PID providers. In the framework of the Strategy, the National Collaborative Roadmap will be developed. The Roadmap is a co-design process in which stakeholders (organisations in the Australian research and innovation sector) are invited to develop and share action plans for their implementation of PIDs. The ARDC provides guidance and a stakeholder action plan template for organisations to help them identify opportunities for improvement under the outcomes of the National PID Strategy. The Strategy aligns with global PID initiatives such as Crossref, DataCite, and the Research Data Alliance (RDA).
National Persistent Identifier (PID) Strategy
Abstract
Country | Australia |
Start date | 2024 |
Annual Budget | n/a |
Responsible organisation(s) | Funding institution |
Target group(s) | Researchers, academic institutions, and the broader scientific community in Australia |
Policy instrument type | Strategic Framework |
The Strategy was released in March 2024 by the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), Australia’s leading research data infrastructure facility. The ARDC was formed in 2018 through the merger of 3 existing digital research infrastructure facilities: the Australian National Data Service (ANDS), National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (Nectar) and Research Data Services (RDS). The ARDC aims to drive the development of national digital research infrastructure, providing Australian researchers with competitive advantage through data. It supports researchers and their organisations with digital research services. It facilitates programs and partnerships that provide the research community and industry access to nationally significant, data-intensive digital research infrastructure, platforms, skills and collections of high-quality data.
There is growing momentum nationally and internationally to better leverage data stemming from research and about research and to harness the potential offered by PIDs. PIDs are universal, machine-readable, interoperable codes that positively identify and connect research and innovation entities such as researchers and innovators, funders, organisations, datasets, articles, projects, software, instruments and samples. the ARDC led a coordinated, comprehensive and collaborative process to develop a national PID strategy for Australia. Guided by a National PID Strategy Taskforce of key sector stakeholders, the process involved extensive consultation through national workshops, working groups, webinars and an open call for individual and group submissions. A draft Strategy was released in July 2023 and refined through extensive and open co-design, consultation and engagement with the sector.
To encourage the widespread adoption of PIDs for research objects (e.g., datasets, software, publications), researchers (e.g., ORCID iDs), institutions, and funding.
To foster interoperability by integrating PIDs into research infrastructure and systems nationally and internationally.
To enable seamless linkage between researchers, institutions, datasets, and publications through the use of connected PIDs.
To promote compliance with FAIR principles, ensuring that data is Findable through globally unique identifiers and metadata, Accessible via persistent, stable URLs and repositories, Interoperable by enabling integration with global PID ecosystems, and Reusable through standardized metadata and licensing.
To facilitate citation, recognition, and reuse of research outputs to boost visibility and impact.
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