Article IX of the Recommendation recommends that
“Adherents collaborate at the international level on access to research data and other research-relevant digital objects from public funding in order to enable free exchange of ideas and enhance scientific discovery, notably where making use of datasets across borders bilaterally or multilaterally can help the advancement of science and contribute to solving global societal challenges.”
Enhancing international cooperation in data-driven research requires coordinated efforts to align policies, standards, and infrastructure across borders.
Policymakers should engage key international bodies such as RDA, CODATA, UNESCO, and the G7 Open Science WG to establish cooperative links, promote adherence to FAIR principles, and develop shared frameworks for data access, particularly for sensitive data.
Strengthening collaboration through global fora, joint investments in multinational repositories, and alignment of national strategies with international frameworks will ensure interoperability and efficiency in data services.
Capacity-building initiatives, including exchange programs and shared training materials, should be prioritised to develop a digitally skilled research workforce.
Additionally, establishing secure infrastructures and harmonised legal, ethical, and technical frameworks will facilitate responsible cross-border data sharing while ensuring compliance with national regulations.
Implementing international collaboration for shared data standards and frameworks faces significant hurdles, including diverging national priorities, fragmented legal and ethical frameworks, and limited coordination among key global initiatives such as RDA, CODATA, EOSC, and UNESCO.
The lack of cross-learning mechanisms and unified oversight results in inefficiencies, while disparities in national capacity hinder equitable participation and trust-building.
Aligning national infrastructures with international standards requires systematic strategies, sustained funding, and governance structures, yet inconsistent global oversight and competing priorities slow progress.
Managing sensitive data across borders remains particularly complex due to varying definitions of sensitivity, interoperability challenges in legal and ethical regulations, and security concerns that often limit accessibility.
While initiatives like the EU Data Spaces and ICODA showcase potential solutions, developing universally accepted certification processes and secure remote access frameworks demands extensive coordination, resources, and commitment.
International Co-operation for Access to Research Data pillar can be broken down into the following provisions.
Work together in international fora, including through international professional organisations, to develop common definitions, data and security standards, and certification processes relating to access to research data and other research-relevant digital objects from public funding and design frameworks to enhance access, including access to sensitive data, across different jurisdictions and national borders. In this respect, adherents should support relevant and appropriate consensus bodies for data policy, standards, and good practice.
Seek to achieve synergies in data infrastructure by taking into account the international infrastructure landscape when designing and investing in national data infrastructure, for example through coordination of national repositories and data services or creating multinational repositories to store data for international use in certain domains. In this respect, adherents should support relevant and appropriate funding, governance and collaboration schemes for international data infrastructure.
Co-operate to build a digitally skilled research workforce through exchange programmes, sharing of best practices and training materials, and adapting them to specific requirements for capacity building in different national and international contexts.
With specific regard to sensitive data and other research-relevant digital objects, including personal data, share good practices and experiences in enhancing access to them across borders, recognising that the data may themselves have to reside in the host originating country.
In this respect, adherents should;
