A key outcome of the activities of Work Package 2 (WP2) of the ITINERIS project – which develops methods, protocols, and standards to improve access management and promote the adoption of FAIR principles among Italian environmental Research Infrastructures (RIs) – is a study on “Assessing the adoption of the FAIR Principles in Italian environmental research infrastructures.” The study, recently published in Patterns (Cell Press), investigates how environmental Research Infrastructures (RIs) are adopting the FAIR principles in Italy to support trustworthy and sustainable open science.
Led by researchers from the Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-IRET), the study examined 14 environmental research infrastructures participating in the ITINERIS project. Through surveys, interviews, and resource analysis, it explored the FAIR practices implemented across the atmosphere, marine, biosphere, and geosphere subdomains, with specific attention to the four dimensions of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability. Findings reveal significant heterogeneity in the FAIR implementation practices adopted across the infrastructures, reflecting both the diverse needs of their respective scientific communities and the varied nature of the digital objects managed by the environmental RIs. Nevertheless, the analysis also highlights growing convergence efforts, particularly within the marine subdomain.
The impact of this work is threefold. First, it helps transfer FAIR awareness to emerging and fast-developing RIs, strengthening the national research landscape and promoting alignment toward shared practices. Second, it establishes a foundation for monitoring FAIR adoption and tracking future advancements. Finally, it provides key insights that supported the development of the ITINERIS national Hub, aimed at facilitating the connection of Italian environmental RIs to the broader EOSC framework.
The journey toward coherent FAIR adoption is still evolving and requires ongoing collaboration among researchers, technologists, IT specialists, and data stewards. Thanks to the ITINERIS project, this FAIR journey could begin by bringing together, for the first time in Italy, the scientific communities leading environmental research infrastructures under a shared vision.
👉 The study has been published in Patterns (Cell Press): [
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