An important step for a forward-looking research policy: RatSWD welcomes the draft bill on the Research Data Act

With the draft bill for a Research Data Act that has now been published, the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) has laid down a sound legislative foundation. “The draft is an important step towards improving access to research data, facilitating the linking of data and thereby sustainably strengthening working conditions for researchers and Germany’s position as a centre of research”, said the Chair of the RatSWD, Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schneider (RWI Essen, University of Wuppertal).

The German Data Forum has been campaigning for a research data act for many years. With the start of the associations’ involvement, an important milestone has now been reached. “The RatSWD is pleased to continue providing expert guidance on the process through constructive discussions and looks forward with confidence to the law being passed in the near future”, the Chair added.

The German Data Forum (RatSWD) has been advising the German federal government and the governments of the German states on questions of research data infrastructure for the empirical social, behavioural and economic sciences since 2004. In the RatSWD, ten representatives of the social, behavioural and economic disciplines, legitimised by election, work together with ten representatives of data production.

The RatSWD is part of the Consortium for the Social, Behavioural, Educational and Economic Sciences (KonsortSWD) in the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). It sees itself as an institutionalised forum for dialogue between science and data producers and develops recommendations and statements. In doing so, it is committed to an infrastructure that provides science with broad, flexible and secure access to data. These data are provided by governmental, science-based and private-sector actors. Currently, the RatSWD has accredited 41 research data centres and promotes their cooperation.