Report of the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data 

to the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council

January 2009

HARNESSING THE POWER

of DIGITAL DATA 

for SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
Cover Design by Terri S. Lloyd, Information International Associates, Inc.

Cover image courtesy of the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling 

and Bioinformatics, at the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Original photo by 

R. Thompson, modified by Information International Associates, Inc., with the permission of the owner.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF

DIGITAL DATA FOR

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Report of the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data

to the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council

January 2009

 January 14, 2009

Dear Colleague,

Digital technologies are reshaping the practice of science. Digital imaging, sensors, analytical instrumentation 

and other technologies are becoming increasingly central to experimental and observational research in all areas 

of science. Increases in computational capacity and capability drive more powerful modeling, simulation, and 

analysis to link theory and experimentation and extend the reach of science. Improvements in network capacity and 

capability continually increase access to information, instrumentation, and colleagues around the globe. Digital 

data are the common thread linking these powerful trends in science. 

Our Nation’s continuing leadership in science relies increasingly on effective and reliable access to digital scientific 

data. Researchers and students who can find and re-use digital data are able to apply them in innovative ways 

and novel combinations for discovery and understanding. The return on the Nation’s investment in generating 

or acquiring scientific data is multiplied when data are reliably preserved for continuing, creative use. Remote, 

networked access can lower barriers to participation, allowing citizens in settings throughout the country to benefit 

from and participate in our Nation’s science endeavors.

Responding to the opportunities and needs created by these trends, the National Science and Technology Council’s 

Committee on Science formed the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data. The Group was charged 

with creating a strategic plan for the Federal government to foster the development of a framework for reliable 

preservation and effective access to digital scientific data. This report, Harnessing the Power of Digital Data for 

Science and Society, provides a set of first principles that guide a vision, strategy, tactical goals, and implementation 

plans for the Federal government, acting as both leader and partner, to work with all sectors of our society to enable 

reliable and effective digital data preservation and access.

I commend this plan as an important step in addressing the digital data preservation and access needs of our 

Nation’s science and engineering research and education enterprise. 

 Sincerely,

 John H. Marburger, III

Director
 PAGE iv — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Tim Erny

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Tim Morris

Department of Commerce (DoC)

National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST)

Cita Furlani

Department of Commerce (DoC)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA)

William Turnbull

Helen Wood

Department of Defense (DoD)

Office of the Director Defense Research 

& Engineering (ODDR&E)

R. Paul Ryan

Department of Energy (DOE)

George Seweryniak

Walter Warnick

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Joseph Kielman

Department of State

Bie Yie Ju Fox

Department of Veterans Affairs

Brenda Cuccherini

Joe Francis

Timothy O’Leary

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Randy Levin

Institute of Museum and Library Services

Joyce Ray 

Library of Congress (LoC)

Babak Hamidzadeh

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 

Joe Bredekamp

Martha Maiden

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Robert Chadduck

Kenneth Thibodeau

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Donald King 

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Sylvia Spengler

Networking and Information Technology

Research and Development (NITRD)

Robert Bohn

Chris Greer

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)

Charles Romine

Smithsonian Institution

Martin Elvis

Giuseppina Fabbiano

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA/ERS)

Paul Gibson

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA/ARS)

Ronnie Green

Kevin Hackett

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Anne Frondorf

IWGDD Executive Secretary

Bonnie Carroll

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Committee on Science Executive Secretary

Marta Cehelsky

Mayra Montrose

Interagency Working Group on Digital Data

Participants List _____________________________________________________
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE v

Table of Contents

_____________________________________________________ 

Interagency Working Group on 

Digital Data Participants List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

The Current Data Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Guiding Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Strategic Framework, Recommendations, 

and Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

_____________________________________________________

Appendix A

Interagency Working Group on 

Digital Data Terms of Reference (Charter) . . . . . . . . . . . . A1

Appendix B

Digital Data Life Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1

Appendix C

Organizations, Individuals, Roles, Sectors, and Types . . . C1

Appendix D

Related Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1
 PAGE vi — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 1

Executive Summary

This report provides a strategy to ensure that digital scientific data can be reliably preserved for maximum use in 

catalyzing progress in science and society.

Empowered by an array of new digital technologies, science in the 21st century will be conducted in a fully digital 

world. In this world, the power of digital information to catalyze progress is limited only by the power of the human 

mind. Data are not consumed by the ideas and innovations they spark but are an endless fuel for creativity. A 

few bits, well found, can drive a giant leap of creativity. The power of a data set is amplified by ingenuity through 

applications unimagined by the authors and distant from the original field. 

Key characteristics of the current digital data landscape are:

•	 the products of science and the starting point for new research are increasingly digital 

and increasingly “born-digital”;

•	 exploding volumes and rising demand for data use are driven by the rapid pace of digital 

technology innovations;

•	 all sectors of society are stakeholders in digital preservation and access; and

•	 a comprehensive framework for cooperation and coordination to manage the risks to 

preservation of digital data is missing.

The following guiding principles were deduced from an analysis of the current digital scientific data landscape. 

These are based on the expertise of the members of the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data (IWGDD), 

supplemented by input from outside experts and documentation from major studies of the challenges and 

opportunities presented by a fully digital world. These guiding principles are:

•	 science is global and thrives in the digital dimensions;

•	 digital scientific data are national and global assets;

•	 not all digital scientific data need to be preserved and not all preserved data need to be 

preserved indefinitely;

•	 communities of practice are an essential feature of the digital landscape;

•	 preservation of digital scientific data is both a government and private sector 

responsibility and benefits society as a whole;

•	 long-term preservation, access, and interoperability require management of the full data 

life cycle; and 

•	 dynamic strategies are required.

The strategic framework, recommendations, and goals presented in this report are founded on these guiding 

principles.

VISION AND STRATEGY

We envision a digital scientific data universe in which data creation, collection, documentation, analysis, 

preservation, and dissemination can be appropriately, reliably, and readily managed. This will enhance the return on 

our nation’s research and development investment by ensuring that digital data realize their full potential as catalysts 

for progress in our global information society.
 PAGE 2 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

We set out the following strategy to achieve this vision: 

Create a comprehensive framework of transparent, evolvable, extensible policies and management and 

organizational structures that provide reliable, effective access to the full spectrum of public digital scientific data. 

Such a framework will serve as a driving force for American leadership in science and in a competitive, global 

information society.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUPPORTING GOALS

To pursue this strategy, we recommend that:

•	 a National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee for digital 

scientific data preservation, access, and interoperability be created;

•	 appropriate departments and agencies lay the foundations for agency digital scientific 

data policy and make the policy publicly available; and

•	 agencies promote a data management planning process for projects that generate 

preservation data.

Implemented together, these recommendations can reshape the digital scientific data landscape. Through the 

strength of the NSTC environment, we can pursue goals requiring broad cooperation and coordination while 

enabling agencies to pursue their missions and empower their respective communities of practice. The goals targeted 

by these recommendations are:

•	 to be both leader and partner;

•	 to maximize digital data access and utility;

•	 to implement rational, cost-efficient planning and management processes;

•	 to empower the current generation while preparing the next; 

•	 to support global capability; and

•	 to enable communities of practice.

Key elements to ensure that these recommendations work together for maximum impact include the following:

•	 Subcommittee responsibilities should include topics requiring broad coordination, 

such as extended national and international coordination; education and workforce 

development; interoperability; data systems implementation and deployment; and data 

assurance, quality, discovery, and dissemination.

•	 In laying appropriate policy foundations, agencies should consider all components 

of a comprehensive agency data policy, such as preservation and access guidelines; 

assignment of responsibilities; information about specialized data policies; provisions for 

cooperation, coordination and partnerships; and means for updates and revisions.

•	 The components of data management plans should identify the types of data and their 

expected impact; specify relevant standards; and outline provisions for protection, 

access, and continuing preservation. 
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 3

Introduction

A REVOLUTION IN SCIENCE

 “What is at stake is nothing less than the ways in which astronomy will be done in the era of information 

abundance.”1

The fabric of science is changing, driven by a revolution in digital technologies. These include (1) digital imaging 

devices for astronomy, (2) microarrays and high-throughput DNA sequencers in genomics, (3) wireless sensor arrays 

and satellites in geosciences, and (4) powerful computational modeling in meteorology. These technologies generate 

massive data sets that fuel progress. Technologies for high-speed, high-capacity networked connectivity have changed 

the nature of collaboration and have also expanded opportunities to participate in science through instant access 

to rich information resources around the world. While these digital technologies are the engine of this revolution, 

digital data2

 are the fuel.

All elements of the pillars of science – observation, 

experiment, theory, and modeling – are transformed by the 

continuous cycle of generation, access, and use of an everincreasing range and volume of digital data. Experiments and 

observations can be better designed if a rich set of supporting 

information is easily accessible. A framework of data can 

provide a strong foundation on which expansive theory can 

be developed and refined. Data initiate, drive, and produce 

dynamic modeling and simulation approaches.

Integrative approaches combine the concepts and tools of 

many disciplines to take on some of the most important 

and difficult questions in science. These approaches require 

the ability to find and use data from many fields and 

applications. Progress on questions such as (1) the basis for 

human consciousness and cognition, (2) the nature of dark 

matter in the universe, and (3) the identification of energy 

sources that can replace fossil fuels require insights from 

various disciplines into data of many different types and 

sources. Global scale science that can meet today’s global 

challenges requires the ability to share and use a distributed 

array of sources for a wide diversity of information. For 

example, the workings of the Earth’s atmosphere, climate, 

and interior, and the interplay between economics, culture, 

politics, and behavior in a global human society, present 

challenges that require data gathered worldwide. The scale 

of resources needed for 21st century science often requires 

global investments, such as the array of instruments needed 

to explore our universe or a high-energy collider capable 

of revealing the nature of matter. These resources generate 

powerful data sets that drive scientific progress around the world.

1 Towards the National Virtual Observatory: A Report Prepared by the National Virtual Observatory Science Definition Team. See http://www.astro.

caltech.edu/~george/sdt/sdt-final.pdf.

2 For purposes of this document, digital data are defined as any information that can be stored digitally and accessed electronically, with a focus specifically 

on data used by the federal government to address national needs or derived from research and development funded by the federal government.

The New Astronomy

All astronomers observe the same sky, but with 

different techniques, from the ground and from space, 

each showing different facets of the universe. The 

result is a plurality of disciplines (e.g., radio, optical 

or X-ray astronomy and computational theory), 

all producing large volumes of digital data. The 

opportunities for new discoveries are greatest in the 

comparison and combination of data from different 

parts of the spectrum, from different telescopes 

and archives.

Astronomers worldwide have recognized this 

opportunity and have begun a network of 

collaborations to establish the infrastructure for 

digital data interoperability. The National Virtual 

Observatory (NVO) is a partnership of US institutions 

including universities, observatories, NASA- and NSFfunded centers, and federal agencies including the 

Smithsonian Institution. The NVO also collaborates 

with the private sector (e.g., Google and Microsoft), 

to develop interactive visual portals to the sky. 

The NVO is a founding member of the worldwide 

International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA).

Source: NVO: http://www.us-vo.org/; IVOA: http://www.ivoa.net/
 PAGE 4 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

THE DIGITAL DIMENSION

The digital dimension consists of network connectivity that can 

lower conventional barriers to participation and interaction 

of time and place; computational capacity and capability 

to expand the possible and extend the conceivable; and 

information discovery, integration, and analysis capabilities to 

drive innovation. The emergence and continuing evolution 

of this powerful new dimension is reshaping science, just as it 

is recasting business, government, education, and many other 

aspects of human activity worldwide. To lead in the emerging 

global digital information society, the nation must fully 

embrace the digital dimension – expanding access, extending 

capabilities, and building on the potential of this exciting new 

environment.

The power of digital information to catalyze progress is limited 

only by the power of the human mind. Data are not consumed 

by the ideas and innovations they spark, but are an endless fuel 

for creativity. A small bit of information, well found, can drive a 

giant leap of creativity. The power of a data set can be amplified 

by ingenuity through applications unimagined by the authors 

and distant from the original field. Re-use and re-purposing 

of digital scientific data have dramatic benefits. First, they 

provide the basis for doing science at new levels. The reach of 

a scientist is extended by access to greater inputs than could be 

gathered by an individual working alone. The goal can be larger and more complex if the products of many different 

technologies and approaches can be brought to bear. The perspective is exponentially broadened by multiple points 

of view.

“The widespread availability of digital content creates opportunities for new forms of research and scholarship that 

are qualitatively different from traditional ways of using academic publications and research data. We call this 

‘cyberscholarship.’”3

Second, preservation to enable re-use and re-purposing ensures maximum return on our 

nation’s investment in science. Effective re-purposing requires interoperability4

 – the ability 

to combine diverse data, tools, systems, and archives smoothly and simply. By providing 

for interoperability, genome sequence and protein structure information can be used in 

innovative combinations to design new drugs to cure and prevent disease and to improve 

the quality of life. As another example, weather and climate data can be integrated to 

predict the outbreak of an epidemic.

The ability to use data over unlimited time periods and for unlimited purposes creates 

greater value for science and society.

Third, remote networked access to robust digital information resources changes the 

participation equation. A student at a tribal college with internet access to a comprehensive 

3 The Future of Scholarly Communication: Building the Infrastructure for Cyberinfrastructure. Report of the April 17, 2007 workshop sponsored by the 

National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the United Kingdom.

4 Interoperability is the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged 

(IEEE Standard Computer Dictionary: A Compilation of IEEE Standard Computer Glossaries). The components of interoperability include data, 

metadata, codes, interfaces, platforms, environments, and networks. Achieving interoperability requires coordination among people, disciplines, and 

institutions.

The $3.6 billion Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will 

sample and record the results of up to 600 million 

proton collisions per second, producing roughly 15 

petabytes (15 million gigabytes) of data annually 

in search of new fundamental particles. To allow 

thousands of scientists from around the globe to 

collaborate on the analysis of these data over the 

next 15 years (the estimated lifetime of the LHC), 

tens of thousands of computers located around the 

world are being harnessed in a distributed computing 

network called the Grid. Within the Grid, described 

as the most powerful supercomputer system in the 

world, the avalanche of data will be analyzed, shared, 

re-purposed and combined in innovative new ways 

designed to reveal the secrets of the fundamental 

properties of matter.

LHC source: public.web.cern.ch/public/en/LHC/LHC-en.html

Source: public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/LHC/LHC-en.html 

The LHC: 

One of the 

world’s most 

complex data 

systems

Data are not 

consumed by 

the ideas and 

innovations 

they spark 

but are an 

endless fuel 

for creativity.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 5

With the acquisition of the human genome 

sequence and the advent of powerful new DNA 

sequencing technologies and analytical methods, 

it is increasingly possible to identify variations in 

human DNA that underlie particular diseases, 

conditions, or therapeutic responses. The National 

Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has 

developed the database of Genotype and Phenotype 

(dbGaP) to preserve and distribute the results of 

studies employing these powerful new capabilities. 

The database represents the combined power of 

many different types of studies and analyses. As a 

result, clinicians and scientists from many fields can 

share their results and work together to investigate 

the interaction of genotype and phenotype, 

revealing new links between DNA sequence and a 

variety of diseases, from breast cancer to diabetes, 

blood pressure abnormalities, and age-related eye 

defects. 

Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/dbgap

set of digital information resources can contribute according to 

the quality of ideas.

Fourth, access to digital information supports discovery-based 

learning, engaging students in the excitement of science. For 

example, a regional online project allows students recording birds 

visiting their schoolyards to discover shifts in migratory patterns 

that are driven by changes in land use. Access also supports 

innovative research into both new strategies for education and the 

basis for cognition and learning. Researchers comparing learning 

patterns across regions or in different settings can uncover some 

of the influences of culture and context on learning.

Finally, preserving the digital scientific products of our time will 

ensure that future generations can benefit from our efforts and 

can better understand our time and place in history. 

INTERAGENCY WORKING 

GROUP ON DIGITAL DATA

In December 2006, the National 

Science and Technology Council of the 

Committee on Science established the 

Interagency Working Group on Digital 

Data (IWGDD; see Appendix A for 

Terms of Reference). Nearly 30 agencies, 

offices, and councils were named as 

members or participants, reflecting 

the broad range of interests in digital 

scientific data. The purpose of the IWGDD is to “develop and promote the implementation 

of a strategic plan for the federal government to cultivate an open interoperable framework to ensure reliable 

preservation and effective access to digital data for research, development, and education in science, technology, and 

engineering.” This report presents the findings and recommendations of the IWGDD.

Remote 

networked 

access to 

robust digital 

information 

resources 

changes the 

participation 

equation.
 PAGE 6 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

The Current Data Landscape

An analysis of the current landscape for digital scientific data 

preservation and access was undertaken through a review of 

relevant reports and other publications (see Appendix D), 

agency data policy and strategy documents, and examples of 

extant digital preservation activities. Highlights of that analysis 

are presented below.

DIGITAL DATA NEEDS

The conduct of science and engineering is changing and 

evolving. This is due, in large part, to the expansion of 

networked cyberinfrastructure and to new techniques and 

technologies that enable observations of unprecedented 

quality, detail and scope. Today’s science employs revolutionary 

sensor systems and involves massive, accessible databases, 

digital libraries, unique visualization environments, and 

complex computational models.5

The use of digital technologies, including computation for 

increasingly complex models and simulations, vast sensor 

arrays, powerful imaging equipment and detectors, and 

networked access, interaction, and dissemination tools, has 

transformed the scientific landscape. Data that are “borndigital” — available only in digital form and preserved only 

electronically — are increasingly becoming the primary output 

of science and the starting point for new research. The rate at 

which these digital data are produced is increasing each year, 

yielding massive and exponentially growing data flows in what 

has been described as a “data deluge.”6

In 2006, the amount of digital information created, captured, and replicated [worldwide] was 1,288 x 1018 bits. 

In computer parlance, that’s 161 exabytes or 161 billion gigabytes. This is about 3 million times the information 

in all the books ever written.7

In principle, a digital data deluge can result in rapid progress in science through wider access and the ability to use 

sophisticated computational and analytical methods and technologies. In practice, the current landscape lacks a 

comprehensive framework for reliable digital preservation, access, and interoperability, so data are at risk. 

RISK FACTORS

Factors contributing to deterioration or loss of digital data include decay of the storage media; dependence 

on outmoded formats or systems (hardware and/or software); and errors introduced in reading, writing, or 

transmission. Additionally, data may be “orphaned” — put at risk of being discarded because the “owner” is 

no longer identifiable or available. Strategies for mitigating these risks include management planning for data 

stewardship, controlled redundancy, managed migration to new technologies, and error checking schemes. These 

promising strategies are limited by two factors. First, many current practices do not scale to the massive volumes and 

decades-long timelines of many long-term preservation organizations.

5 Investing in America’s Future: National Science Foundation Strategic Plan, FY2006-2011.

6 Hey, A. J. G. and Trefethen, A. E. The Data Deluge: An e-Science Perspective. 2003. Berman, Fox, and Hey, Editors. Published in Grid Computing. 

Making the Global Infrastructure a Reality, pp. 809-824, Wiley and Sons. 2004.

7 The Expanding Digital Universe, IDC White Paper sponsored by EMC Corporation. March 2007.

NOAA’s DARTTM 

Tsunami Monitoring Buoys

As part of the U.S. National Tsunami Hazard 

Mitigation Program (NTHMP), the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has 

developed and placed Deep-ocean Assessment and 

Reporting of Tsunamis (DARTTM) stations in regions 

with a history of generating destructive tsunamis to 

ensure early detection of tsunamis and to support 

real-time warnings. Currently DARTTM stations are 

deployed and active in the Pacific, Atlantic and 

Indian Oceans, the Caribbean Sea, and the 

Gulf of Mexico.

The tsunami-related data archive has grown 

from five gigabytes to over 1,700 gigabytes, with 

standards-compliant metadata available online to 

support the modeling, mapping, and assessment 

activities required to minimize the effect of 

tsunamis. 

Source: http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/Dart/dart_home.html
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 7

“It is the contention of the 100 Year Archive Task Force that migration as a discrete long-term preservation 

methodology is broken in the data center. Today’s migration practices do not scale cost-effectively....”8

Second, many of these strategies rely on close coordination and cooperation among diverse preservation 

organizations, but a comprehensive framework is needed to enable coordination and cooperation. 

LEGAL AND POLICY LANDSCAPE

The U.S. legal and policy landscape promotes access to digital scientific data produced in the federal and federally 

funded realms. The elements of this landscape that are most relevant to this document are as follows: 

•	 The Paperwork Reduction Act (44 USC 35) has as one of its key purposes to 

“ensure the greatest possible public benefit from and maximize the utility of information 

created, collected, maintained, used, shared and disseminated by or for the federal 

government.”

•	 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130 specifies that 

“The open and efficient exchange of scientific and technical government information 

... fosters excellence in scientific research and effective use of federal research and 

development funds.”

•	 The 1991 Supreme Court ruling in Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural 

Telephone Service Co. (499 U.S. 340) establishes that “facts do not owe their 

origin to an act of authorship, they are not original, and thus are not copyrightable.”

•	 Copyright law (17 USC 105) provides that “Copyright protection under this title is 

not available for any work of the United States Government.”

•	 The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA; 5 USC 552) provides for public access 

to the records of the federal government.

This legal and policy landscape produces a climate of equitable access while protecting appropriate intellectual 

property rights. This provides a dynamic, healthy environment for basic and applied research, enabling the United 

States to continue as a leader in discovery and innovation in the information age. It also drives a robust commercial 

information sector. The FY2000 federal investment in public sector information was estimated at $14.9B.9

 The 

commercial information sector that relies on this investment generated estimated annual sales of $641B, employing 

3.2 million people.

ENTITIES IN DIGITAL PRESERVATION AND ACCESS

Many different types of organizations, institutions, groups, and partnerships (referred to below as “entities”) are 

active in the current digital preservation landscape. These include agencies, centers, departments, institutes, 

libraries, museums, research projects, etc. Over 50 entities across these categories were examined, and the results are 

outlined in Appendix C. Each entity examined was characterized by:

•	 Type (e.g., data center, library, archive, museum)

•	 Roles (e.g., data production, analysis, publication, training)

•	 Sector (e.g., government, research, education)

•	 Expert participants (e.g., librarian, archivist, IT specialist)

Some of the conclusions emerging from this analysis are described in the following sections.

8 100 Year Archive Requirements Survey, Storage Networking Industry Association. January 2007.

9 Commercial Exploitation of Europe’s Public Sector Information: Final Report for the European Commission Directorate General for the Information 

Society, Pira International. October 2000.
 PAGE 8 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

DATA LIFE CYCLE

Most entities currently fulfill multiple roles in the data life cycle, and most roles are being fulfilled by several types 

of entities. An example is that of data analysis and processing. While this role has traditionally been associated with 

computational centers, this capability is being implemented in non-traditional settings such as libraries, archives, 

and museums. This trend toward generalization and away from specialization in the provision of data life cycle 

functions has important implications. For example, many traditional preservation institutions now operate or 

require direct access to leading-edge computational facilities, equipment, and expertise, creating new organizational, 

operational, and financial challenges. Additional implications of this trend toward generalization are discussed in 

the following sections.

PARTICIPATION BY ALL SECTORS

Nearly all types of preservation entities exist in all sectors – government, education, research institutions, 

non-profit, commercial, and international. Many entities arise from collaborations across sectors at regional, 

national, and international levels. An example of a cross-sector partnership is the agreement among the 

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the 

San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) for innovation in preservation of some of the nation’s most 

valuable digital research collections.10 The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is a partnership 

of over 70 countries and international organizations providing global access to the world’s primary data 

on biodiversity.11 This breadth of participation and collaboration provides a potential foundation for 

sustainability analogous to that provided by diversity in ecosystems sustainability. A digital preservation 

framework with a diversity of organization types and missions, resources, funding streams, and capabilities is 

more resilient to changes in short-term trends and to individual failures.

NEW INFORMATION DISCIPLINES

Some new specializations in data tools, infrastructures, sciences, and management are emerging as a result 

of increased communication and cross-fertilization across the information disciplines that support data 

preservation. Examples include: 

•	 Digital Curators: experts knowledgeable of and with responsibility for the content of 

digital collection(s);

•	 Digital Archivists: experts competent to appraise, acquire, authenticate, preserve, and 

provide access to records in digital form; and

•	 Data Scientists: information and computer scientists, database and software engineers 

and programmers, disciplinary experts, expert annotators, and others who are crucial to 

the successful management of a digital data collection.12

New educational programs and curricula to provide the necessary skill sets and knowledge are beginning to 

emerge. Viable career paths for some of these areas remain to be developed. 

INFORMATION COMMUNITIES13

The trend towards generalized data life cycle function does not extend to generalized content. Most 

preservation entities are closely allied with a particular scientific or topical domain: a community of 

practice. To increase interoperability within a given science realm, “information communities” are emerging 

10 www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2006/nr06-119.html.

11 www.gbif.org/GBIF_org/participation.

12 Long Long-Lived Digital Data Collections: Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century, report of the National Science Board. 

 September 2005.

13 For example, the National Center for Bioinformatics (NCBI) is an information community which draws together genomics scientists, information 

technologists, evolutionary biologists, and chemists and other communities of practice around a common set of information resources.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 9

that span multiple communities of practice. These communities are working to set their own data standards, 

establish their own infrastructures, etc. Preservation entities play an important role in this process, 

providing relevant expertise and experience, as well as a means for implementing and enforcing standards. 

Significant opportunities exist to promote interoperability and to avoid data “silos” or “stovepipes” which 

are inaccessible to those outside the immediate community of interest. Instead, interactions among domainspecific entities are encouraged, along with establishment of preservation organizations to span and 

integrate multiple domains.

PERSONAL DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

With increasing digital access, an individual may have a “personal digital collection” that is specific to 

and associated with that person. This personal collection may contain data generated by the owner and 

those drawn transparently from other sources as needed for the analysis at hand. This has two important 

implications. First, this mode of data use depends on research and development to create powerful new 

interoperability, data tracking and provenance, attribution, and validation capabilities. Second, ties between 

users and individual preservation entities may be loosened, threatening models for economic sustainability 

that depend on these ties. Diversified sustainability models are needed to accommodate this emerging use 

pattern.

NON-DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

“Museums and libraries have leveraged the availability of the 

Internet to present their resources and services to a broader audience 

and offered an additional mode of access to them, while traditional 

in-person visits continue to increase.”14

Many valuable collections of physical artifacts (documents, books, 

specimens, etc.) exist in libraries, archives, museums, and other 

collections throughout the world. Legacy collections of microfiche, 

audio tapes, film, and other media are housed in repositories, 

warehouses, and storage facilities around the globe. Digital access 

to information about these artifacts, or to digital representations of 

the objects, can greatly enhance awareness and use, increasing the 

impact of these collections. Strategies, methods, and technologies to 

create metadata for cataloguing and search/discovery in the digital 

preservation realm can also inform the non-digital realm. Advantages 

in digitizing an object include expanded access, enhanced ability to 

search across collections, and mitigation against catastrophic loss or 

slow deterioration of the original artifact. Disadvantages can include 

increased fragility of the digital version and higher costs in some 

instances for digital versus physical preservation. Decisions about 

digitization of collections should be based on an evaluation of these 

advantages and disadvantages, assessed through the combined efforts 

of digital preservationists and content curators.

14 InterConnections: The IMLS National Study on the Use of Libraries, Museums and the Internet. February 2008.

 Digitizing 

 Corrosion 

 Information

The Department of Defense is engaged in an 

ongoing battle with corrosion, which affects most 

equipment, facilities, vehicles and weapons systems. 

Making it easier to access results of decades-old 

corrosion research and technology development 

could aid in addressing the problem and go a long 

way toward reducing corrosion-related expenses.

To this end, the Advanced Materials, 

Manufacturing, and Testing Information Analysis 

Center (AMMTIAC), in a partnership with the 

Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), is 

improving the availability of high-value corrosion 

research documents from its massive collection 

of reports with the use of digitization from print 

and microfiche. The digitized information will be 

prepared for long-term access and preservation. 

This endeavor to provide access to full-text 

resources will, in turn, facilitate the use of sci-tech 

information associated with corrosion.
 PAGE 10 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Guiding Principles

The following guiding principles were deduced from an evaluation of the current digital scientific data landscape. 

They are based on the expertise and experience of the IWG members supplemented by input from outside experts 

and documentation from major studies of the challenges and opportunities presented by a fully digital world. The 

strategic framework, recommendations, and goals presented in this report emerge from these guiding principles.

1. SCIENCE IS GLOBAL AND THRIVES IN THE DIGITAL DIMENSION

The emergence of a powerful new digital dimension brings capabilities for connectivity across oceans 

and continents, remote access to unprecedented computational power, and the potential to find and use 

information distributed worldwide. The result is a global landscape in which (1) science can thrive as barriers to 

collaboration of time and distance are lowered, and (2) limits to the scale, scope, and nature of questions that 

can be addressed are pushed back by an increasingly capable cyber infrastructure. 

2. DIGITAL SCIENTIFIC DATA ARE NATIONAL AND GLOBAL ASSETS

The ability to achieve innovation in a competitive global information society hinges on the capability to swiftly 

and reliably find, understand, share, and apply complex information from widely distributed sources for 

discovery, progress, and productivity. Limits on information access translate into limits on all other aspects of 

competitiveness. Thus, digital information preservation and access capabilities are critical to the progress of 

individuals, nations, science, and society.

3. NOT ALL DIGITAL SCIENTIFIC DATA NEED TO BE PRESERVED, AND NOT ALL 

PRESERVED DATA NEED TO BE PRESERVED INDEFINITELY

It is estimated that the amount of digital information produced worldwide each year now exceeds the global digital 

storage capacity.15

Decisions about what to preserve are inevitable. The criteria for such decisions differ among differing data 

types and contexts. Some data can be reproduced at lower costs than preservation (some outputs of computer 

models and simulations are examples) and, therefore, may not be a high priority for preservation. Other data 

cannot be reproduced at any cost (continuous, long-term environmental measurements are examples) and may 

merit higher priority for preservation. Still other data initially preserved may be superseded by new work and 

become candidates for disposal. Thus, deliberate decisions about preservation should take place on a continuing 

basis throughout the full data life cycle. Stakeholders in this decision-making process include: (1) preservation 

organizations, which must factor their mission, costs, and funding structures into decisions; (2) the scientific 

community (including communities of practice), which can consider the value to science; (3) data authors, who 

are most familiar with the detailed context; (4) archival scientists, who bring both an intellectual framework and 

experience to assessing preservation value; (5) data users, who employ the data in creative and innovative ways; 

and (6) entities such as associations, federations, and governments, which can take a broad, long-term view. 

4. COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE ARE AN ESSENTIAL FEATURE OF THE DIGITAL 

LANDSCAPE

Science is conducted in a dynamic, evolving landscape of communities of practice organized around disciplines, 

methodologies, model systems, project types, research topics, technologies, theories, etc. These communities 

facilitate scientific progress and can provide a coherent voice for their constituents, enhancing communication 

and cooperation and enabling processes for quality control, standards development, and validation. These 

15 The Expanding Digital Universe, IDC White Paper sponsored by EMC. March 2007.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 11

capabilities are crucial for data preservation and access in 

communicating the needs and expectations of a community of 

users, providing expert input on the scientific context for data 

(including input to decisions about what to preserve and what 

to discard), promoting good data management practices, and 

contributing to the development of effective data standards. Thus, 

data preservation policies and strategies must encourage and 

enable communities of practice both because of their important 

role in science and because of the capabilities and perspectives 

they bring to the preservation process. “One-size-fits-all” policies 

must be avoided to allow for strategies and designing mechanisms 

for interoperability that support communities of practice.

5. PRESERVATION OF DIGITAL SCIENTIFIC DATA IS 

BOTH A GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE SECTOR 

RESPONSIBILITY, AND BENEFITS SOCIETY AS A 

WHOLE

A large number and wide variety of entities, organizations, 

and communities — each with their own assumptions, culture, 

expertise, objectives, policies, and resources — are involved in 

the creation and preservation for access of scientific digital data. 

Responsibilities for data stewardship are distributed across many 

diverse entities that, in turn, engage with different institutions, 

disciplines, and interdisciplinary domains. Responsibility for data stewardship should remain with the 

distributed collections and repositories that have a vested interest in their community’s data. A framework of 

government/private sector partnerships (analogous to the air transportation or monetary systems) is required to 

link these distributed responsibilities into an effective system for digital preservation and access.

6. LONG-TERM PRESERVATION, ACCESS, AND INTEROPERABILITY REQUIRE 

MANAGEMENT OF THE FULL DATA LIFE CYCLE

The full data life cycle includes creation, ingestion or acquisition, documentation, 

organization, migration, protection, access, and disposition (see Appendix B for 

a description of the data life cycle) and has two important features. First, the 

cycle is dynamic rather than static and includes ongoing processes of curation, 

disposition, and use. Many processes, such as data analyses involving transformation 

or recombination, are catalytic, continuously increasing the volume of data for 

preservation and access. Second, the steps in the cycle are not independent. 

Feasibility, costs, and limitations for each step are strongly dependent on actions taken 

at other steps. For example, inadequate documentation at an early stage can prevent 

later use; failure to migrate to new technologies can leave data inaccessible. Effective 

management of each step and coordination across steps in the life cycle are required to 

ensure that data are reliably preserved and can be accessed and used efficiently.

Barcode of Life

The Barcode of Life Initiative is an international 

effort to develop reliable and authoritative means 

for the global identification of biological species. 

Barcoding uses a short DNA sequence within an 

organism’s genome as the equivalent of a barcode 

on a supermarket product to determine the species 

origin of a biological sample. Adoption of a standard 

format for barcode data allows a sample in a museum 

or collected in the field to be instantly linked to 

related information resources worldwide; to be tied 

in to relevant tissue, parasite, and other collections 

globally; and to reference DNA databases in the 

United States, Japan, and Europe. The result is the 

ability to conduct biodiversity, species migration and 

invasion, and population genetics studies that are 

more powerful because they can be reliably compared 

to and informed by other projects worldwide.

Source: http://barcoding.si.edu/

Responsibilities 

for data 

stewardship 

are distributed 

across many 

diverse entities.
 PAGE 12 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

7. DYNAMIC STRATEGIES ARE REQUIRED

“Today, no media, hardware or software exists that can reasonably assure long-term accessibility to digital 

assets.”16

The transition from physical to digital information technologies requires several 

fundamental changes in preservation strategies. First, preservation must be active rather 

than passive, as data in digital systems are more fragile and the media more transient 

than in traditional paper- or microfilm-based systems. Second, digital technologies 

advance continuously, often rendering older technologies unsupported and inaccessible 

while producing new opportunities for creative exploitation of data. Finally, as remote 

digital access reduces the need for distributed physical copies, the reduction in systemic 

redundancy increases the risk of loss. This risk is often managed through redundancy 

that is actively planned and implemented. In this landscape, recommendations for 

static solutions are of only transient value. Thus, we focus in this report on processes 

for actively managing current preservation solutions while continuously anticipating 

and implementing new methods, technologies, and strategies without endangering 

preservation and access.

16 The Digital Dilemma, Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2007.

Preservation 

must be active 

rather than 

passive, as 

data in digital 

systems are 

more fragile.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 13

Strategic Framework, Recommendations, 

and Goals

The rapid pace of development and deployment of digital technologies are characteristic 

features of science in the digital dimension. These technologies include digital sensor 

arrays, powerful imaging technologies, adaptive computing, and increasingly more 

complex and capable computational modeling and simulation approaches. As a 

result of these technologies, the volume of digital scientific data is increasing at an 

exponential rate. This unprecedented growth in digital information presents an equally 

unprecedented opportunity for progress in all areas of science and engineering research 

and education if, and only if, the information can be preserved, accessed, understood, 

and applied. This recommended strategic framework responds to this opportunity with a 

plan to overcome limits and maximize the scientific information potential of the digital 

dimension, creating new opportunities and progress for all.

VISION

Our strategic vision is a digital scientific data universe in which data creation, collection, documentation, analysis, 

preservation, and dissemination can be appropriately, reliably, and readily managed, thereby enhancing the return 

on our nation’s research and development investment by ensuring that digital data realize their full potential as 

catalysts for progress in our global information society.

STRATEGY

We set out the following strategy to achieve our strategic vision: 

Create a comprehensive framework of transparent, evolvable, and extensible policies and management and 

organizational structures that provide reliable, effective access to the full spectrum of public digital scientific data. 

Such a framework will serve as a driving force for American leadership in science and in a competitive, global 

information society.

The framework we envision will allow digital scientific data to be readily discovered, evaluated, and used in creative 

and complex combinations by specialists and non-specialists alike and will ensure that data are properly protected 

and reliably preserved. This framework is based on principles for continuous, effective management of new 

technologies and methods identification and adoption without endangering reliable preservation and access. The 

essential elements of our strategy are defined as follows:

•	 The proposed “policy, management, and organizational framework” comprises: 

(1) an NSTC Subcommittee for digital scientific data preservation and access; (2) the 

development of agency and organizational data management policies, and (3) data life 

cycle management planning for relevant projects and activities.

•	 “Reliable, effective access” refers to strategies and systems that: (1) provide for 

reliable, long-term, cost-effective preservation and access at appropriate quality; (2) 

ensure high-confidence protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, and property 

rights; (3) enable transparent search and discovery capabilities across a wide range 

Unprecedented 

growth in digital 

information 

presents an 

unprecedented 

opportunity for 

progress.
 PAGE 14 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

of resources and data types; (4) include 

appropriate metadata17 and documentation 

to allow data to be understood and effectively 

re-used or re-purposed; and (5) provide for 

effective interoperability across repositories, tools, 

resources, services, and data types and formats.

•	 “Digital scientific data” refers to borndigital and digitized data produced by, in the 

custody of, or controlled by federal agencies, or 

as a result of research funded by those agencies, 

that are appropriate for use or repurposing for 

scientific or technical research and educational 

applications when used under conditions of 

proper protection and authorization and in 

accordance with all applicable legal and regulatory 

requirements. It refers to the full range of data 

types and formats relevant to all aspects of 

science and engineering research and education 

in local, regional, national, and global contexts 

with the corresponding breadth of potential 

scientific applications and uses.

•	 “American leadership” among 

nations worldwide will only be achieved 

by mobilizing the capabilities of all sectors of our greater society, including 

government at all levels, industry, foundations, academia, education, and 

individuals in using, supporting, and evolving the digital scientific data universe.

•	 “Global information society” recognizes that science and technology coexist in a world where technology diminishes geographic, temporal, social, and 

national barriers to discovery, access, and use of data.

This strategy is designed to unite the capabilities and leverage the resources of the federal 

agencies and organizations in their scientific data activities, thereby enabling the federal 

government to serve as both leader and partner to all sectors of our society in realizing the full potential of the 

digital dimension to enable discovery, innovation, and progress.

RECOMMENDATIONS: OUTLINE AND SUPPORTING GOALS

We make three recommendations pursuant to this strategy. These are presented at an outline level below, along 

with a discussion of the goals that support the recommendations. The final section of this report provides a more 

detailed discussion of the recommendations. The recommendations are intended to create synergy by combining 

action items for agencies to work with their communities of practice in pursuit of their respective missions. 

The recommendations also allow for a forum for cooperation and coordination across government, academic, 

commercial, and international sectors.

17 Metadata are data about data. They include a formal description of the data, as well as information on how to acquire the data, and information for 

using the data, such as accuracy, security, and rights. Metadata provide the scientific, technical, contextual, representational, provenance, and other 

information necessary to enable creative re-use and re-purposing.

A National Map for 

the 21st Century

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working 

with federal, state, and local agencies across 

the country to create a seamless digital base 

map for the nation. The goal of The National 

Map (http://nationalmap.gov) is to become 

the nation’s source for trusted, consistent, 

integrated, and current topographic information 

available online for a broad range of uses. By 

integrating data from many federal, state, and 

local sources on an ongoing basis, the currency 

and accuracy of the map are enhanced, 

making it effective for use in a wide variety of 

applications such as environmental science 

and land management, natural hazards and 

emergency response, and resource planning and 

decision making.

Source: nationalmap.gov

American 

leadership 

will only be 

achieved by 

mobilizing the 

capabilities of 

all sectors of 

our society.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 15

RECOMMENDATION 1: WE RECOMMEND THE CREATION OF A NATIONAL SCIENCE 

AND TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL (NSTC) SUBCOMMITTEE FOR DIGITAL SCIENTIFIC DATA 

PRESERVATION, ACCESS, AND INTEROPERABILITY. 

The NSTC, a Cabinet-level council, is the principal means within the executive branch to coordinate science 

and technology policy across the federal research and development enterprise. The NSTC’s Committee on 

Science, with its charter to improve the coordination of federal efforts in science, is well positioned to pursue 

frameworks for cooperation across the federal government that enhance digital scientific data preservation 

and access. We recommend the creation of a Subcommittee under the Committee on Science to provide the 

sustained focus and expertise needed to ensure continued leadership in this area. The proposed Subcommittee 

will provide a mechanism for federal departments and agencies to (1) identify and articulate shared goals 

for scientific data preservation, access, and interoperability; (2) coordinate planning, implementation, 

and assessment of their data preservation and access activities; (3) achieve cost-effectiveness by exploiting 

shared solutions to meet mission requirements and federal standards; (4) provide a means for interaction, 

collaboration, and coordination with sectors outside the federal arena, including internationally; and 

(5) coordinate with relevant inter-agency and inter-governmental efforts.

RECOMMENDATION 2: WE RECOMMEND THAT APPROPRIATE DEPARTMENTS AND 

AGENCIES LAY THE FOUNDATIONS FOR AGENCY DIGITAL SCIENTIFIC DATA POLICY AND 

MAKE THE POLICY PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. 

The appropriate departments and agencies are those who, either directly or through support to others, generate, 

collect, or steward digital data relevant to science and technology research and education. Data policies should 

be developed from a foundation of solid understanding and strong consensus on the needs, goals, and best 

approaches for digital preservation and access both within an agency and across the communities it serves. 

Currently, agencies are at varying stages in laying the necessary foundations and can benefit from sharing 

experiences and insights through the forum of the proposed NSTC Subcommittee. With an appropriate 

foundation in place, agency data policies that address scientific data preservation and access can be developed 

with community input and in coordination with other departments and agencies. The goals of the agency 

data policy should be to maximize appropriate information access and utility and to provide for rational, costefficient data life cycle management. Agency data policies should be publicly available and should guide and 

inform the development and implementation of data management plans in individual projects and activities.

RECOMMENDATION 3: WE RECOMMEND THAT AGENCIES PROMOTE A DATA 

MANAGEMENT PLANNING PROCESS FOR PROJECTS THAT GENERATE PRESERVATION 

DATA. 

In particular, agencies could consider requiring data management plans for projects that will generate 

preservation data.18 Advance planning for data preservation and access can ensure that appropriate, cost-effective 

strategies are identified, and the digital products of research can be made widely available to catalyze progress. 

Data management plans should provide for the full digital data life cycle and should describe, as applicable, the 

types of digital data to be produced; the standards to be used; provisions and conditions for access; requirements 

for protection of appropriate privacy, confidentiality, security, or intellectual property rights; and provisions for 

long-term preservation (including means for continuously assessing what to keep and for how long).

These recommendations are designed to combine agency actions with interagency and multi-sector cooperation 

and coordination to pursue the following six goals, which were based on the findings of the IWGDD during its 

deliberations.

18 “Preservation data” are defined herein as those digital scientific data (either created in digital form or digitized) for which the benefits of preservation are 

likely to exceed the costs (including the costs of ongoing curation, protection, dissemination, quality control and validation, and migration to new formats 

and technologies). Inherent in this definition is the need to conduct effective cost/benefit analyses to enable rational decisions about preservation.
 PAGE 16 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

GOAL 1: BE BOTH LEADER AND PARTNER

Findings: federal agencies are unique in (1) their 

responsibilities for gathering data for science; (2) their role in 

funding scientific research and education; and 

(3) their ability to make long-term investments, with longterm payoffs, in the interests of society at large. These unique 

characteristics mean that the federal government must take a 

leadership role both in providing for preservation and access to 

digital scientific data and in illuminating the path forward so 

that others may follow.

It must also be recognized that the digital dimension belongs 

to all sectors of society. Government 

at the federal, state, and local levels; 

industry; academia; foundations; 

international organizations; and 

individuals are all participants 

in the digital dimension and 

have important interests in and 

capabilities for digital information 

preservation and access. Therefore, 

the federal government has a 

responsibility to act as a reliable and 

transparent partner and as a coordinating entity, enabling all sectors to work together 

in enhancing the information capabilities of the digital dimension. 

The continuing exponential increase in the amount of digital scientific information and the ever-expanding 

needs and expectations of users exceed both the resources and the mission scope of the federal agencies. The 

digital data challenge cannot be met by the federal government or any one sector acting alone. The government 

must act to stimulate and facilitate investments by all sectors of society in meeting the full scope and scale of the 

scientific data challenge. 

To be an effective leader and partner, the federal government must (1) be responsible in meeting respective 

agency and organizational needs for digital preservation and access; (2) respect and encourage the interests 

and capabilities of stakeholders in all sectors; (3) be innovative, creating exemplary resources and capabilities 

to demonstrate feasibility, and establish and disseminate best practices for use in other sectors; (4) provide 

a coherent mechanism for interaction with other sectors; and (5) promote communication and facilitate 

partnering among all sectors. Implemented together, the recommendations address all of these responsibilities.

GOAL 2: MAXIMIZE DIGITAL DATA ACCESS AND UTILITY

Findings: Enhanced capabilities for finding, using, and integrating information accelerate the pace of discovery 

and innovation. Advanced information capabilities and better access to digital data will make America more 

competitive in a digital world. Thus, a critical requirement for American competitiveness is to establish and 

continuously improve a robust and pervasive information infrastructure to maximize access to digital scientific 

data.

Scientific information in an accessible and interoperable digital environment has the characteristics of a public 

good. The information is not destroyed and its value is not diminished upon use. On the contrary, digital access 

has a catalytic effect, multiplying the value of information through repeated use by a wide variety of users in a 

The Protein Data Bank 

Expedites Drug Development

The World-Wide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB) 

provides a single, authoritative source of 

information about the structure of biological 

molecules. Currently, the wwPDB contains the 

structures of almost 50,000 proteins discovered by 

researchers worldwide and shared openly with the 

global community. Many of these proteins, including 

enzymes, hormones, and receptors, are important 

drug targets. Because of the quality and quantity 

of data available via the wwPDB, it is possible to 

visualize and analyze these molecules to allow 

engineered drug design. Many of the HIV protease 

inhibitors used in the cocktail for HIV treatment 

were developed using this approach. In similar 

ways, open access to this rich information resource 

catalyzes progress in many fields and applications.

Source: www.wwpdb.org

The digital 

data challenge 

cannot be met 

by the federal 

government or 

any one sector 

acting alone.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 17

diversity of settings and applications. This 

requires effective coordination, extensive 

interoperability, and innovative tools and 

services across the full spectrum of digital 

preservation and access resources.

The proposed NSTC Subcommittee is 

intended to take the lead for the federal 

government, working in local to global 

contexts with all sectors of society, to 

develop mechanisms for maximizing 

access and utility for digital scientific 

data. Examples of such mechanisms include: (1) continued 

improvement in interoperability across all layers (from software 

to hardware to networks and resources); (2) integration of 

data from various sources and across projects and disciplines; 

(3) comprehensive, global, and transparent search, query, and 

retrieval capabilities; (4) development, continuing evolution, 

broad adoption, and regular use of appropriate, communitybased, cost-effective standards designed to allow efficient 

information use in innovative ways and in complex combinations; 

(5) encouragement of digital preservation programs explicitly 

aimed at facilitating sustained access; (6) promotion of ready 

access to appropriate documentation and metadata; and (7) 

reliable protection of security, privacy, confidentiality, and 

intellectual property rights in complex data environments.

GOAL 3: IMPLEMENT RATIONAL, COST-EFFICIENT 

PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT PROCESSES 

Findings: The total volume of digital data and the rates at which data are being created globally are increasing 

rapidly. Mobilizing these data in the service of scientific progress without incurring overwhelming costs or 

risking loss requires robust planning and management processes. These processes must be designed to optimize 

current resources at all levels, to exploit economies of scale and shared, cost-effective solutions, to anticipate new 

loads and demands, and to evaluate opportunities and challenges posed by rapidly changing technologies.

The NSTC Subcommittee, working with the appropriate departments and agencies, is well positioned to 

gather and share across sectors information related to costs and best practices for preservation, protection, 

dissemination, curation, and migration. This will promote a culture of awareness and capacity for data life cycle 

management to ensure usable, efficient, cost-effective solutions to data preservation and access. 

The process of developing and implementing an agency data policy would be facilitated by the designated 

agency representative to the Subcommittee. The designee could support the development and maintenance 

of the agency data policy, ensure that the policy supports the agency mission, provide for appropriate access 

and preservation of the digital scientific assets, and coordinate with other agencies, sectors, and international 

partners to further national interests and capabilities. This position requires experience in science, research, and 

education, and in the full scientific digital data life cycle (see Appendix B).

U.S. Integrated Earth 

Observation System (IEOS): 

A Contribution to the Global 

Earth Observation System of 

Systems (GEOSS)

Earth observations are the data collected about 

the Earth’s land, atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, 

and near-space environment. These data are 

collected by means of instruments that sense or 

measure the physical, chemical and/or biological 

properties of the Earth. These data provide 

critical information to assess climate change and 

its impacts; ensure healthy air quality; manage 

ocean, water, mineral and other natural resources; 

monitor land cover and land use change; measure 

agricultural productivity and trends; and reduce 

disaster losses. 

The Strategic Plan for the U.S. Integrated Earth 

Observation System directly supports the efforts of 

more than 70 countries who are working together 

to achieve a GEOSS -- interconnecting a diverse 

and growing array of instruments and systems for 

monitoring and forecasting changes in the global 

environment.

Source: http://usgeo.gov/docs/EOCStrategic_Plan.pdf

GEOSS and IEOS 

A System of Systems Digital access 

has a catalytic 

effect, 

multiplying 

the value of 

information.
 PAGE 18 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

GOAL 4: EMPOWER THE CURRENT GENERATION 

WHILE PREPARING THE NEXT 

Findings: To extend the benefits of our strategic vision to all, 

the education and training to use and manage the current data 

infrastructure and to develop the future data infrastructure 

must be widely accessible. If appropriately designed and 

implemented, the data infrastructure itself can be a robust 

resource for meeting these education and training needs.

Remaining globally competitive in developing the data 

capabilities of the future requires both ensuring that future 

generations of scientists and technologists are capable of 

operating in the fast-moving world of network and information 

technologies and providing for the decades-long horizons of 

digital preservation and access. Assembling an appropriate 

new cohort of computer and information scientists, 

cyberinfrastructure and digital technologies experts, digital 

library and archival scientists, social and behavioral scientists, 

and others with the requisite skills and expertise to meet this 

dual challenge can only be done through the combined efforts 

of the government, education, research, and technology sectors. 

Key to this effort will be increasing the number of graduates in 

critical areas such as computer and information sciences and 

mathematics.

It is crucial that education and training activities be integral 

to all of the federal science data investments. Facilitating the 

diffusion of the skills and knowledge necessary to benefit from 

the digital dimension is essential to achieving our strategic 

vision and must be integral to all federal science data activities. The NSTC Subcommittee can play a critical 

role in promoting coordination of education and training among federal departments and agencies and in 

partnerships with the education, research, and technology sectors. This activity could include the development 

of joint programs for research and development in the design, implementation, assessment, and evaluation of 

educational programs.

The nation needs to identify and promote the emergence of new disciplines and specialists expert in addressing 

the complex and dynamic challenges of digital preservation, sustained access, reuse and repurposing of data. 

Many disciplines are seeing the emergence of a new type of data science and management expert, accomplished 

in the computer, information, and data sciences arenas and in another domain science. These individuals are 

key to the current and future success of the scientific enterprise. However, these individuals often receive little 

recognition for their contributions and have limited career paths. Critical challenges in achieving our strategic 

vision include providing an effective pipeline of data professionals to ensure that the needs and opportunities of 

the future can be met and providing these professionals with appropriate rewards and recognition.

The NSTC Subcommittee will also have an essential role in promoting data science and management as a 

career path with appropriate recognition and rewards structures. The federal government can be both leader 

and partner in this arena, using its own programs as models for success and supporting innovative and effective 

approaches in other sectors. A key goal is to encourage and enable the best and brightest to commit to careers in 

all aspects of data science to meet the growing needs of our digital society and economy. Further, specialists in 

Earth Observing System Data & 

Information System (EOSDIS)

The Earth Observing System Data and Information 

System (EOSDIS) manages and distributes more 

than 2,700 types of data products and associated 

services for use in interdisciplinary studies of the 

Earth system through its eleven data centers. 

These data centers process, archive, document, 

and distribute data from NASA’s past and current 

Earth system science research satellites, field 

programs and aircraft platforms, currently 

supporting the daily ingest of over 2 terabytes (TB) 

of satellite instrument data. Over 4.9 petabytes 

(PB) are archived. In 2007 alone, over 100 million 

products were distributed to over 165,000 unique 

users, and approximately 3 million science, 

government, industry, education and policy-maker 

users accessed EOSDIS.

The data held at the EOSDIS data centers are 

interoperable with data from Earth observation 

communities around the world using a component 

called the EOS ClearingHOuse (ECHO).

Source: http://outreach.eos.nasa.gov/about.html
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 19

information disciplines (e.g., digital curation and preservation 

and library and archival sciences) should be given incentives 

to obtain additional education and training to enable their 

effective participation in the digital dimension.

Agencies should identify the skills and expertise needed 

to effectively manage their data resources. The NSTC 

Subcommittee can be a source of lessons learned and 

information sharing among the agencies in this regard. Budget 

planning and cost analyses conducted by the departments 

and agencies for their data preservation and access activities 

should consider the costs of education and training programs, 

including assessment and evaluation, designed to enhance 

access and utility for their digital resources.

GOAL 5: SUPPORT GLOBAL CAPABILITY

Findings: The digital dimension is 

global. Science, like many aspects of our 

global knowledge society, is not limited 

by national boundaries. Continued 

U.S. leadership in science will 

require robust access to information 

resources, as well as opportunities for 

collaboration around the world. The 

American digital preservation and 

access framework must be effectively international – functionally 

integrated and closely coordinated with counterparts around 

the globe.

These global characteristics and needs will require U.S. 

investment in (1) shared, international data resources, (2) 

transparent linkage of U.S. systems and resources to their global 

counterparts, (3) development, evolution, and integration of 

appropriate standards, formats, conventions, and other means 

to provide for interoperability across international boundaries, and (4) efforts to harmonize appropriate legal, 

regulatory, and policy frameworks to reduce barriers to cooperation, collaboration, and the pursuit of shared 

goals.

Partnering outside the U.S. requires an accessible point of contact, transparent policy frameworks, and 

coherence and coordination among federal agencies. The proposed NSTC Subcommittee is well positioned to 

provide these capabilities and to promote coordination of U.S. data activities with those of our international 

counterparts.

Where appropriate, data policies developed by departments and agencies should explicitly address plans for 

achieving global capability. Such policies and plans should identify relevant international stakeholders, processes 

for standards development and implementation, strategies for enhancing cooperation and coordination to 

achieve enhanced data access and utility, and mechanisms to identify opportunities for cost savings through 

economies of scale and sharing of resources within the context of a competitive global economy.

The Case for Biodiversity 

Data Interoperability 

Invading alien species in the United States cause 

significant environmental damage, with losses adding 

up to almost $120 billion per year1

. Cholera bacteria 

and toxic dinoflagellates have been discovered in 

ballast water of cargo ships. Yellow fever vectors 

have spread to new continents in imported tires. 

Hardwood trees in American cities are being killed by 

Asian beetles introduced in wooden packing crates. A 

coordinated, global approach is necessary to detect, 

understand, and manage the large-scale movement 

of species. While many electronic databases provide 

invasive species information, they are not yet fully 

interoperable. The ability to combine data from a 

variety of sources is needed to predict and manage 

invasion threats by interpreting an invasive species’ 

ability to spread into particular regions, calculating 

its rate of dispersal, and predicting its future range. A 

global information system that enables interoperability 

across a diversity of digital resources will require 

cooperative action at national and international 

levels.2

1

David Pimentel, Rodolfo Zuniga and Doug Morrison. 

“Integrating Ecology and Economics in Control Bioinvasions. 

Ecological Economics,” Volume 52, Issue 3, 15 February 

2005, Pages 273-288 

2

Excerpted from Anthony Ricciardi, William W. M. Steiner, 

Richard N. Mack, and Daniel Simberloff, “Toward a Global 

Information System of Invasive Species,” BioScience, Vol 50, 

No3, March 2000, pp 239-244.

The digital 

dimension is 

global.
 PAGE 20 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

GOAL 6: ENABLE COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

Findings: Scientific data exist in many different types and 

formats subject to varying legal, cultural, protection, and 

practical constraints. They are often used in different ways 

according to their contexts and have varying life cycle 

requirements. Data authors, managers, and users often come 

from different disciplinary, professional, cultural, and other 

settings with different needs, expectations, responsibilities, 

authorities, and expertise. These experts are subject to varying 

legal, physical, scientific, cultural, and other constraints. 

This diversity in data, individuals, institutions, disciplines, 

contexts, and cultures is a strength of the American scientific 

research and education system. One-size-fits-all solutions 

must be avoided. Solutions should support communities of 

practice and leverage their capabilities while promoting data 

integration and interoperability. Because these communities 

of practice are changing the way data are used and reused 

and the way science in these communities is done, these 

community processes present an opportunity for research in 

the social, behavioral, and other sciences.

Data stewardship is best accomplished 

in a system that includes distributed 

collections and repositories maintained 

where the custodian has trusted 

community-proxy status with the relevant 

communities of practice.19 Solutions 

should support such a distributed system, 

recognizing the diverse interests of all 

of the stakeholders while promoting 

federation and interoperability. 

Federal departments and agencies and the proposed NSTC Subcommittee will need 

to engage communities of practice and the leadership of community-based collections and repositories in 

pursuing digital data preservation and access goals. Implementing the recommendations of this report will 

require extensive community consultation mechanisms and a fully participatory approach to data activities. 

Such mechanisms should be used in promoting interoperability and federation, developing standards and 

formats, implementing agency requirements for deposition and access, designing capabilities and features for 

tools and services, and other data activities. Resulting policy and implementation plans should reflect the needs, 

capabilities, and interests of the broad diversity of stakeholders.

19 The role of community-based collections in a data collections universe is addressed by the National Science Board in its report “Long-lived Digital Data 

Collections: Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century” (see Appendix D for reference). In this report, “community-proxy” is defined as 

the explicit or implicit authority from the community to make choices on its behalf on issues such as collection curation, access policies, standards and 

ontology development, annotation content, etc.

Digital Data Importance to 

Social and Behavioral Sciences 

The study of powerful large-scale trends such as 

economic development, urbanization, expanding 

migration, population aging, and mass education 

by social, behavioral, and other scientists requires 

access to global-scale micro-data – data about 

individuals, households, and families collected by 

census offices around the world. The Integrated Public 

Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) provides researchers 

and educators with interoperable access to data from 

more than 111 censuses in 35 countries representing 

more than 260,000,000 person records. This powerful 

digital collection meets critical research needs while 

successfully preserving appropriate privacy and 

confidentiality rights, allowing researchers to construct 

frameworks for analyzing and visualizing the world’s 

population in time and space to understand agents 

of change, to assess their implications for society and 

the environment, and to develop policies and plans to 

meet future challenges at local, regional, national, and 

global scales.

For additional information, see: https://international.

ipums.org/international/

Diversity is a 

strength of 

the American 

scientific 

system.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 21

RECOMMENDATIONS: KEY ELEMENTS

The three recommendations of this report – creation of an NSTC Subcommittee, development of agency data 

policies, and provisions for data management plans – are designed to work together in reshaping the digital 

scientific data landscape. They provide a national management framework for meeting the six goals outlined above. 

The key elements of each recommendation that ensure they can work in combination are set out below. 

RECOMMENDATION 1 – CREATION OF AN NSTC SUBCOMMITTEE 

The Subcommittee will focus on goals that are best addressed through broad cooperation and coordination, 

while the agencies will pursue goals specific to their respective missions and communities of practice. Examples 

of focus areas for the Subcommittee include the following. The priorities for these areas will be set by the 

members of the Subcommittee.

Extended National Coordination. Engage with federal agencies outside the NSTC Subcommittee, 

government at the state and local levels, other interagency coordination groups (including other relevant 

NSTC groups), and the commercial, academic, educational, and non-profit sectors. Goals include 

identifying shared opportunities and challenges, gaps and unmet needs, synergies and partnerships, and 

economies of scale or shared investments, which would allow the federal government to serve as both leader 

and partner for digital scientific data preservation and access.

International Coordination. Engage with foreign national and international agencies and entities in the 

government, commercial, academic, educational, and non-profit sectors. Goals include identifying shared 

opportunities and challenges, gaps and unmet needs, synergies and partnerships, and economies of scale 

or shared investments, which would allow the federal government to serve as both leader and partner for 

digital scientific data preservation and access.

Education and Workforce. Enable the current generation and develop the next generation of leaders and 

innovators in data science and technology by coordinating the activities of the NSTC Subcommittee and its 

partners and engaging stakeholders in other sectors.

Data Innovation Research. Coordinate research to support digital scientific data innovation. Examples of 

digital data innovation research include methods for assessing or achieving scalability, systems integration, 

and design robustness, including fault tolerance in evaluating the application of one or more inventions to 

particular applications or needs.

Data Systems Implementation and Deployment. Promote greater capability and capacity in implementation 

design and deployment of data software, hardware, and systems. The Subcommittee will encourage 

adoption and implementation of data preservation and access strategies, concepts, and best practices. 

It will also promote efficient re-use and adoption of tools and technologies to facilitate integration and 

interoperability.

Data Discovery and Dissemination. Promote enhanced capabilities for finding, understanding, visualizing, 

and interacting with data. The Subcommittee will support diverse uses through a coordinated set of relevant 

technologies and will disseminate information about available data. 

Data Protection. Develop strategies, concepts, and tools for protecting data security, privacy, confidentiality, 

and intellectual property rights, and for enabling effective user access, authentication, authorization, and 

accounting protocols and frameworks. 
 PAGE 22 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Data Quality and Disposition. Develop concepts, strategies, and tools for data quality assessment and 

control, validation, authentication, provenance, and attribution. The Subcommittee will promote the 

development and sharing of best practices for disposition decision-making (i.e., which data should be kept, 

for how long, and by what entities), including strategies and practices for understanding the relationship 

between cost and benefits.20

Integration and Interoperability. Promote strategies, approaches, investments, and partnerships that enable 

the effective integration and interoperability of data and data tools, systems, services, and resources. The 

Subcommittee will promote the identification, use, and continuing evolution of existing standards and the 

development of standards where needed. This ensures coherent identification of distributed data, enhances 

coordination of the activities of the NSTC Subcommittee and its partners, and engages other sectors with 

the goal of enabling the creative use of digital scientific data in innovative combinations for purposes of 

discovery, innovation, and progress.

The activities of the Subcommittee should include close cooperation with the other relevant NSTC entities. 

Two of these are especially relevant in the digital scientific data landscape, and their relationship to the 

proposed new Subcommittee can be summarized as follows:

Relationship to the NITRD Subcommittee.The Networking and Information Technology Research and 

Development Subcommittee (NITRD) focuses on the invention phase (i.e., basic research to prototype/

proof of concept) of the invention-innovation-implementation-design-deployment21 cycle of technology 

change. The proposed NSTC Subcommittee on Digital Scientific Data focuses on innovation through 

deployment. There is necessarily both overlap and dependency between phases in this cycle, and close 

communication and coordination between these two groups will be implemented to manage and leverage 

appropriate linkage between phases. This interaction will ensure that the most promising and innovative 

research outputs can be considered for further development and that the research process is responsive to 

the real-world needs of the implementation sector.

Relationship to the Scientific Collections IWG. The Scientific Collections Interagency Working Group 

focuses on collections of physical objects relevant to science (e.g., biological specimens, drilling cores, 

fossils). Collections of digital counterparts to such physical objects (e.g., digital images or 3-dimensional 

digital renderings) fall within the purview of the proposed NSTC Subcommittee on Digital Scientific 

Data. These two groups will closely coordinate to manage the relationship between the physical and digital 

collection realms and to enable rational, cost-efficient decision making about digitization for preservation 

and access. 

RECOMMENDATION 2 - AGENCY DIGITAL DATA POLICY 

The second key element of the strategic framework is that appropriate departments and agencies lay the 

foundations for agency digital scientific data policy and make the policy publicly available. In laying these 

foundations, agencies should consider all components of a comprehensive policy to address the full data 

management life cycle. Examples of such components include the following:

20 The benefits of digital preservation must be continuously weighed against the costs. Assessment of benefits must rely extensively on input from the 

relevant stakeholder communities, be conducted openly, and be consistent with the mission of the relevant department or agency. Such assessment 

should include consideration of the full range of benefits, both tangible and intangible. The assessment should compare the costs of preserving a data 

set with the possibility and costs of regenerating the data. When reproducing data is not possible, preservation should be the preferred choice where 

feasible. Cost analyses should be informed by comprehensive and reliable information. Similar analyses should be conducted for plans to digitize physical artifacts (books, documents, reference samples and specimens, etc.) for preservation and access. Recognizing that current analyses are limited by 

the lack of comprehensive economic theory and management frameworks for long-term digital preservation, agencies should work together to support research and development to improve the conceptual foundations and methodologies in this area.

21 We distinguish between “invention” and “innovation” in the manner of Schumpeter (see Schumpeter, JA. Business Cycles. New York. McGraw Hill. 

1939), with “invention” referring to the discovery of new concepts or devices and “innovation” as the creative use, modification, or combination of 

existing concepts and devices for desired applications.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 23

Statement of guiding principles for digital scientific data preservation and access. The principles should 

provide clear guidelines for those conducting the data planning and implementation activities of the agency 

and for those seeking to partner with the agency in pursuing shared data goals. This includes criteria for 

determining whether data are appropriate for preservation and access. Further, the principles must be in 

accordance with the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), OMB Circular A-130, 

the America COMPETES Act, the Data Quality Act, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act

(FFATA), and other applicable policy, regulatory, and statutory requirements. The agency digital data policy 

should cite the relevant governing documents wherever appropriate. 

Assignment of responsibilities. The roles of agency offices and officials in implementing the agency 

digital data policy should be described to ensure clear lines of authority and accountability and to provide 

transparency for those working within and outside the agency on digital data matters. This should include 

provisions for a designated, cognizant senior science official serving as Science Data Officer to coordinate 

the digital data activities of the agency and to serve as representative to the Subcommittee on Digital 

Scientific Data. 

Description of mechanisms for access to specialized data policies. Agencies may support various 

communities of practice and distinct data types, formats, and contexts, and they may have differing 

programmatic goals, needs, and resources. Such agencies should have a harmonized suite of corresponding, 

specialized data policies. The comprehensive agency digital data policy should describe mechanisms to 

provide easy and transparent access to the agency’s full portfolio of specialized data policies.

Statement of intentions and mechanisms for cooperation, coordination, and partnerships. The agency 

digital data policy should describe the agency’s intentions and mechanisms for cooperation, coordination, 

and partnerships across sectors. Such sectors can include government at the national, state, or local levels, as 

well as industry, academia, education, non-profits, and international entities.

Provisions for updating and revisions. The agency digital data policy must be a living document if it is to 

remain relevant and effective in a dynamic landscape. The policy should describe the mechanisms to be 

used for updating and revising the document to ensure it is responsive to change and opportunity.

RECOMMENDATION 3 - DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN ELEMENTS

The third key element of the strategic framework is for all agencies to promote a data management planning 

process for projects that generate preservation data. This includes preparing a data management plan in 

proposals for activities that will generate digital scientific data. Examples of elements that should be considered 

in such a data management plan are listed below. This listing can be consulted by agencies in developing an 

appropriate portfolio of specialized data management policies, with each policy crafted for the community and 

context in which a particular project or projects will be conducted. Each specialized policy may include or omit 

any of the elements listed below or add others as appropriate to the particular application or context. 

Description. Brief, high-level description of the digital scientific data to be produced.

Impact. Discussion of possible impact of the data within the immediate field, in other fields, and any 

broader, societal impact. Indicate how the data management plan will maximize the value of the data.

Content and Format. Statement of plans for data and metadata content and format, including description 

of documentation plans and rationale for selection of appropriate standards. Existing, accepted standards 

should be used where possible. Where standards are missing or inadequate, alternate strategies for enabling 
 PAGE 24 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

data re-use and re-purposing should be described, and agencies should be alerted to needs for standards 

development or evolution.

Protection. Statement of plans, where appropriate and necessary, for protection of privacy, confidentiality, 

security, intellectual property and other rights.

Access. Description of plans for providing access to data. This should include a description and rationale 

for any restrictions on who may access the data under what conditions and a timeline for providing access. 

This should also include a description of the resources and capabilities (equipment, connections, systems, 

expertise, etc.) needed to meet anticipated requests. These resources and capabilities should be appropriate 

for the projected usage, addressing any special requirements such as those associated with streaming video or 

audio, movement of massive data sets, etc.

Preservation. Description of plans for preserving data in accessible form. Plans should include a timeline 

proposing how long the data are to be preserved, outlining any changes in access anticipated during the 

preservation timeline, and documenting the resources and capabilities (e.g., equipment, connections, 

systems, expertise) needed to meet the preservation goals. Where data will be preserved beyond the duration 

of direct project funding, a description of other funding sources or institutional commitments necessary to 

achieve the long-term preservation and access goals should be provided. 

Transfer of Responsibility. Description of plans for changes in preservation and access responsibility. 

Where responsibility for continuing documentation, annotation, curation, access, and preservation (or 

its counterparts, de-accessioning or disposal) will move from one entity or institution to another during 

the anticipated data life cycle, plans for managing the exchange and documentation of the necessary 

commitments and agreements should be provided. 

 PAGE 24 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — A1

Appendix A

Interagency Working Group on Digital Data 

Terms of Reference (Charter)
 A2 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — A3

A. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON DIGITAL DATA TERMS OF 

REFERENCE (CHARTER)

TERMS OF REFERENCE of the 

INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON DIGITAL DATA

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE

NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL

PREAMBLE

The Interagency Working Group on Digital Data (the “Interagency Working Group” or IWG”) is hereby established 

by the Committee on Science (“the Committee” or “COS”). The IWG serves as a part of the internal deliberative 

process of the Committee on Science.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the IWG is to develop and promote the implementation of a strategic plan for the federal 

government to cultivate an open interoperable framework to ensure reliable preservation and effective access to 

digital data for research, development, and education in science, technology, and engineering. For the purposes of 

this document, digital data are defined as any information that can be stored digitally and accessed electronically, 

with a focus specifically on data used by the federal government to address national needs or derived from research 

and development funded by the federal government. Analog data digitized for storage are also included. The term 

“agencies” refers to federal departments, agencies, directorates, institutes, and other organizational entities. While 

emphasis is on U.S. federal entities, scientific data management crosses national boundaries, and the work of this 

IWG will take into account international dimensions of a data framework.

The IWG will provide a means for coordinating policy, programs, and budgets among federal agencies and with 

partners in other sectors. This includes identifying and integrating requirements, conducting joint program 

planning, and developing joint strategies for digital data preservation and access activities conducted by agency 

members of the IWG. The strategic plan should provide for cost-effective cooperation and coordination among 

agencies and with the science, technology, and engineering research and development communities, and with 

international partners and counterparts, as appropriate, to identify best practices, to encourage shared solutions to 

key challenges, and to implement coordinated strategies and policies for managing digital data.

SCOPE

The scope of activities for the IWG includes:

•	 Developing a strategic plan for the federal government, working in partnership with other sectors, to 

enable reliable preservation of and effective access to digital data, appropriately protected, in science, 

technology, and engineering;

•	 Promoting the implementation of the strategic plan through coordination among federal agencies and 

through partnerships with other sectors;

•	 Developing strategic requirements for an open interoperable data framework;

•	 Promoting communications among developers and users of digital data for research, development, 

and education in science, technology, and engineering, to help ensure that their digital data needs are 

addressed;

•	 Assuring necessary international collaboration, access, and interoperability; and

•	 Ensuring that the activities of the IWG are informed by and not duplicative of the ongoing activities of 

other groups in areas such as electronic health care and medical records.
 A4 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

FUNCTIONS

The IWG has the following functions and activities:

•	 Facilitating interagency digital data strategic plan development and implementation, including:

− Assessing the current status of digital data generation, archiving, preservation, and access 

among federal agencies;

− Providing a forum for agencies to exchange program-level information about agency digital data 

activities;

− Recognizing agency priorities and identifying interagency priorities in digital data, identifying any 

gaps in the federal strategy related to those areas, and promoting interagency coordination to 

address these gaps;

− Identifying opportunities for domestic and international collaboration, coordination, and 

leveraging among agencies in specific digital data areas;

− Coordinating policy, programs, and budgets for implementing the strategic plan.

•	 Facilitating interoperability broadly and recommending means and processes to achieve it, including 

mechanisms such as standards evolution and development;

•	 Facilitating coordination and cooperation with the research, development, and education communities;

•	 Facilitating a strong interagency planning effort;

•	 Maintaining and overseeing coordinating groups in specific science or technology areas;

•	 Maintaining active awareness of data sets in technical areas other than science, technology, and 

engineering, and within the international community;

•	 Submitting an annual progress report to the Committee.

MEMBERSHIP

The following federal agencies are represented on the IWG:

•	 Department of Agriculture

•	 Department of Commerce

•	 Department of Defense

•	 Department of Education

•	 Department of Energy

•	 Department of Health and Human Services

•	 Department of Homeland Security

•	 Department of the Interior

•	 Department of Labor

•	 Department of Justice

•	 Department of State

•	 Department of Transportation

•	 Department of the Treasury
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — A5

•	 Department of Veterans Affairs

•	 Central Intelligence Agency

•	 Environmental Protection Agency

•	 Library of Congress

•	 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

•	 National Archives and Records Administration

•	 National Science Foundation

•	 The Smithsonian Institution

•	 US Army Corps of Engineers

The following councils and offices shall participate in IWG activities:

•	 Council on Environmental Quality

•	 Domestic Policy Council

•	 Homeland Security Council

•	 National Economic Council

•	 National Security Council

•	 Office of Management and Budget

•	 Office of Science and Technology Policy

LEADERSHIP AND OPERATIONS

Co-Chairs of the IWG shall be named by the Co-Chairs of the Committee. Intra- and inter-agency coordination, fact 

finding, coordinating group efforts, and planning shall occur during and/or between the formal, scheduled IWG 

meetings.

INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

The IWG may interact with other government organizations including the NSTC Committee on Technology 

(COT), the Networking and Information Technology R&D (NITRD) Subcommittee, which reports to the COT, 

and the NITRD National Coordination Office. The IWG may also interact with federal advisory bodies such as the 

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The IWG may interact with and receive ad 

hoc advice from other interagency groups such as CENDI and the Federal CIO Council, and from private sector 

groups, professional societies, and other non-government organizations such as the National Academies of Science 

and Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council as consistent with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act.

TERMINATION

Unless renewed by the Co-Chairs of the Committee on Science prior to its expiration, the IWG shall terminate no 

later than March 31, 2009.

DETERMINATION

We hereby determine that the formation of this Interagency Working Group is in the public interest in connection 

with the performance of duties imposed on the Executive Branch by law, and that such duties can best be performed 

by such a group.
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 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — B1

Appendix B

Digital Data Life Cycle
 B2 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — B3

B. The Digital Data Life Cycle

Exhibit B-1. Digital Data Life Cycle Model
 B4 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Exhibit B-2. Life Cycle Functions for Digital Data*

•	 Plan

− Determine what data need to be created or collected to support a research agenda or a mission 

function

 Identify and evaluate existing sources of needed data

− Identify standards for data and metadata format and quality

− Specify actions and responsibilities for managing the data over their life cycle

•	 Create

− Produce or acquire data for intended purposes

− Deposit data where they will be kept, managed and accessed for as long as 

needed to support their intended purpose

− Produce derived products in support of intended purposes; e.g., data summaries, 

data aggregations, reports, publications

•	 Keep

− Organize and store data to support intended purposes

 Integrate updates and additions into existing collections

 Ensure the data survive intact for as long as needed

•	 Acquire and implement technology

− Refresh technology to overcome obsolescence and to improve performance

− Expand storage and processing capacity as needed 

− Implement new technologies to support evolving needs for ingesting, processing, analysis, 

searching and accessing data

•	 Disposition

− Exit Strategy: plan for transferring data to another entity should the current repository no longer 

be able to keep it

− Once intended purposes are satisfied, determine whether to destroy data or transfer to another 

organization suited to addressing other needs or opportunities

*Life cycle functions are necessarily sequential in any research or other 

program, but the same body of data may go through multiple cycles as it 

is used by different entities or for different purposes.
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — B5

Exhibit B-3. Data Management Functions for Scientific and Technical Data

{These functions occur across all phases of the data life cycle}

•	 Document

− Define standards for data content, form, metadata, quality, frequency of updates, etc.

− Create/maintain metadata

− Document data history: provenance and lineage, actual data collection and processing (e.g., 

calibration, geo-referencing, noise reduction)

− Note anomalies and lacunae

− Record disposition decisions and actions

•	 Organize

− Design and implement data architecture, engineering and structures

− Conform to standards

•	 Protect

− Implement quality control

 Verify and validate data on ingest

 Ensure integrity and validity of any transformations or derived products

− Implement access restrictions

 Respect property rights

 Protect privacy and confidentiality

− Guarantee availability to authorized users

 Define user roles and privileges

 Qualify individual users

− Guarantee trustworthiness and authenticity

 Function as a trusted repository

 Implement, maintain and monitor the security of system and the assets stored in it

 Implement methods for ensuring and verifying authenticity

•	 Access

− Acquire data from existing sources

− Catalogue and describe as to content, quality, availability, etc.

− Ensure coherent identification of distributed data

− Disseminate information about available data

− Support diverse uses through an appropriate variety of technologies

− Support a variety of methods of discovery, analysis, repurposing, dissemination, presentation
 B6 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY B6 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — C1

Appendix C

Organizations, Individuals, Roles, Sectors, and Types
 C2 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — C3

C. Organizations, Individuals, Roles, Sectors, and Types 

1. Entities by Role

2. Entities by Individual

3. Entities by Sector

4. Individuals by Role

5. Individuals by Life Cycle Phase/Function

6. Entities by Life Cycle Phase/Function

Exhibit C-1. Entities by Role

ENTITY TYPE ROLE EXAMPLES

Research 

Projects

Collect or produce data through original research

Develop and validate improved testing methods

Develop data collection or production instruments, 

techniques, or processes

Operate laboratories or observatories

Preserve original and/or derived data

Produce publications from research

Produce refined data products through calibration, 

geo-referencing, or other enhancement of 

raw data

Collect data from other producers

Provide access to bibliographic data about research

Provide access to original or derived data

European Bioinformatics Institute 

American National Election Survey

Framingham Heart Study

General Social Survey 

National Toxicology Program

NIST Physics Laboratory

Panel Study of Income Dynamics

UNAVCO

Data Centers 

/Statistical 

Agencies

Collect data from other producers

Collect or produce data through original research

Combine data from multiple sources

Develop data collection or production instruments, 

techniques, or processes

Preserve original or derived data sets

Promote collaboration on production, dissemination 

or management of data

Provide access to original or derived data

Provide resources or services for analyzing or processing data

Publish research results

Government Agencies: Science Data 

Centers

Center for Earth Resources 

 Observation and Science

National Climactic Data Center 

National Oceanographic Data Center 

NSF’s Census Research Data Centers

Collect or produce data through original research

Combine data from multiple sources

Collect data from other producers

Provide resources or services for analyzing or processing data

Provide access to original or derived data

Provide financing for projects in other organizations to produce, 

disseminate, or access data

Provide training on information dissemination and access

Government Agencies: Statistical 

Agencies

Bureau of Census 

Census State Data Center Program 

Division of Science Resources Statistics

NSF Economic Research Service 

Analyze and revise data to improve their quality

Collect data from other producers

Collect or produce data through original research

Combine data from multiple sources

Develop data collection or production instruments, 

techniques, or processes

Operate laboratories or observatories

Preserve original or derived data sets

Promote collaboration on production, dissemination or 

management of data

Provide access to bibliographic or other reference data

Provide access to original or derived data

Provide resources or services for analyzing or processing data

Provide training on data analysis, processing or management

Private Sector Centers/Activities

Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian

 Astrophysical Observatory 

Economic and Social Data Service 

UK National Optical 

 Astronomy Observatory

Space Telescope Science Institute 

Worldwide Protein Data Bank
 C4 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

ENTITY TYPE ROLE EXAMPLES

Libraries Analyze and revise data to improve their quality or usefulness

Collect derived data products, principally publications

Combine data from multiple sources

Convert analog information or materials to digital formats

Create bibliographic and other reference data

Develop instruments, techniques, or processes for data collection or 

production, processing, management, or dissemination

Develop and enhance software tools that will 

enable gene discovery

Preserve publications

Preserve original and/or derived data

Provide access to bibliographic or other reference data

Provide access to publications

Provide financing for projects in other organizations 

to produce, disseminate, or access data

National Library of Medicine

Wellcome Library

Information 

Service 

Providers 

Collect or produce data through original research

Conduct data management research

Promote improved data management

Provide data management services, tools or facilities

Provide tools for data dissemination

Promote collaboration on production, dissemination 

or management of data

Promote data sharing

Collect data from other producers

Publish research results

Provide access to bibliographic or other reference data

Provide access to publications

Provide access to original or derived data

Preserve original or derived data sets

Provide training materials for data analysis

Provide training on use of scientific data in different contexts

Research and develop computational capabilities 

for science and engineering

Astrophysics Data System

Inter-university Consortium for Political

 and Social Research

Journal of the American Statistical

 Association Data Archive 

National Association of Health Data

 Organizations

National Fusion Grid

Semantic Web for Health Care and Life

 Sciences Interest Group

Sociometrics Social Science Electronic 

 Data Library

Archives Articulate criteria and tools for assessing compliance with standards

Collect data from other producers

Develop and promulgate data standards

Preserve original or derived data sets

Preserve publications

Provide access to bibliographic or other reference data

Provide access to original or derived data

Provide access to publications

Provide resources or services for analyzing or processing data

Provide training on data analysis, processing or management

Provide training on life cycle management

National Archives and Records

 Administration

National Data Archive on Child Abuse

 and Neglect

Open Archives Initiative 

UK Data Archive

Museums Collect or produce data through original research

Convert analog information or materials to digital formats

Operate laboratories or observatories

Preserve original or derived data sets

Provide access to bibliographic or other reference data

Provide access to original or derived data

Provide resources or services for analyzing or processing data

Publish research results

Field Museum 

Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle

Smithsonian Museums

Yale Peabody Museum

Exhibit C-1. Entities by Role
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — C5

ENTITY TYPE ROLE EXAMPLES

National / 

International 

Infrastructure 

Develop and promulgate data standards

Organize/sponsor conferences

Promote collaboration on production, dissemination 

 or management of data

Promote data sharing

Provide access to bibliographic or other reference data

Provide access to original or derived data

Provide access to publications

Council of European Social Science 

 Data Archives 

Global Price and Income History Group 

 – University California/Davis 

Integrated Public Use Microdata Series 

 International

Luxembourg Income Study

National Biological Information 

 Infrastructure

National Spatial Data Infrastructure

STI Centers Collect data from other producers

Determine policies regarding collection, content, quality, 

peer review and dissemination of data

Promote collaboration on production, dissemination or 

 management of data

Provide access to bibliographic or other reference data

Provide access to original or derived data

Provide access to publications

Provide data management services, tools or facilities

DoD, Defense Technical 

 Information Center 

DOE, Office of Scientific 

 and Technical Information

NASA Technical Reports Server

Computer 

Centers 

Enable formation of virtual organizations through 

computational and data grids

Preserve original or derived data

Provide facilities and vehicles for collaboration

Provide tools for data processing, access, and use

Provide training on use of tools for data processing, access, and use

Research and develop computational capabilities for science 

 and engineering

Store and process data

National Center for Supercomputing 

 Applications

Renaissance Computing Institute

San Diego Supercomputer Center

Standards 

Bodies 

Develop and promulgate data standards

Promote data sharing

Provide training on implementation of data standards

Publish books and periodicals on data standards and their use

Register service providers deemed competent in data standards

Clinical Data Interchange 

 Standards Consortium 

Consultative Committee on 

 Space Data Systems 

Audit/

Accreditation 

Bodies 

Accredit laboratories’ technical qualifications and competence 

to carry out specific calibrations or tests

Articulate criteria and tools for assessing compliance with standards

Audit data production, management, preservation and 

dissemination activities

Government Accountability Office

NIST, National Voluntary Laboratory 

 Accreditation Program

Research Libraries Group

Information 

Distributors 

Collect data from other producers

Provide access to bibliographic or other reference data

Provide peer review of publications

Provide access to publications

Provide access to original or derived data

Publish research results

Provide training on information dissemination and access

Preserve original or derived data

Preserve publications

EconData.Net

Elsevier

International Network for the Availability

 of Scientific Publications 

Internet Scientific Publications 

Journal of the American Medical Association 

Thomson Reuters

Hardware 

Software 

Developers/

Suppliers 

Provide tools for data production, processing, preservation, 

access, and use

Research and develop computational capabilities for science 

 and engineering

IT industry

Open source software collaborations

Exhibit C-1. Entities by Role
 C6 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Exhibit C-2. Entities by Individuals

Entities

Data Center 

Scientists

Data Scientists

Librarians

Archivists

Record 

Managers

Researchers

Modelers

Students

Information 

& Data 

Management 

Specialists

Computer 

Scientists, 

Engineers, & IT 

Specialists

Journalists, 

Science 

Writers

Research 

Program 

Directors/Policy 

Makers

Research Projects X X X X X

Data Centers 

/Statistical Agencies

 X X X X X X X X

Libraries X X X X X

Information Service Providers (e.g.,

Catalog Services)

 X X X X

Archives X X X

Museums X X X

National/International Infrastructure 

(e.g., NBII, NSDI)

 X X X

STI Centers (OSTI, CASI, DTIC) X X X X X X X

Computer Centers (SDSC, NCSA) X X X X

Standards Bodies (CCSDS) X

Audit/Accreditation Bodies X

Information Distributors (Including 

Publishers, Conference Organizers, Press)

 X X X 

Hardware/Software Developers/Suppliers X X
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — C7

Entities

Government Education Multi-Sector 

Collaboration

Research & 

Development 

Institutions

Not for 

Profit / 

NGO

ForProfit

Legislative Executive Judicial K-12 Vocational

Academic 

Higher 

Education

International National

Research Projects X X X X X X X X X

Data Centers 

/Statistical Agencies X X X X X X X

Libraries X X X X X X

Information Service 

Providers X X X X X X X

Archives X X X X

Museums X X X

National/International 

Infrastructure X 1 X X X

STI Centers X

Computer Centers X X X X

Standards Bodies X 2 X 3 X X 4

Audit/Accreditation 

Bodies X

Information Distributors X X X X

Hardware and Software 

Developers/Suppliers X 5 X 6 X X X

1 Some agencies provide leadership for multi-sector collaboration.

2 Standards bodies across the sector include NIST.

3 Standards bodies across the sector include ISO.

4 Standards bodies across the sector include OGC.

5 Agencies may develop and distribute software tools/models, etc.

6 Collaboratives may develop software tools.

Exhibit C-3. Entities by Sector
 C8 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Exhibit C-4. Individuals by Role

INDIVIDUALS ROLE

Data center scientists Disciplinary scientists who work in data centers and develop a special expertise in data management and data 

science. Plan, manage, give scientific oversight and input to all phases of the data management cycle within the 

data center/archive, including scientific specifications for software development to support data processing and 

archival operations; management of these operations; validation and verification of data products; interoperability 

links with other archives and the literature; and design and management of data re-use products such as data 

mining from archival products and catalog creation.

Data scientists Scientists who come from information or computer science backgrounds but learn a subject area and may 

become scientific data curators in disciplines and advance the art of data science. Focus on all parts of the data life 

cycle.

Librarians Focus on the functions — keeping and disposing of information and planning in regard to it. Generally not in the 

“creation” role. Collect relevant information to manage through the life cycle based on scope and cover of the 

library mission. Usually collect information from a variety of creating entities. Focus on the access and use of 

data. Individuals work to standards of the library profession in organizing, protecting, accessing, and documenting 

data in the two main functions of the life cycle. 

Archivists Select, preserve, and provide access to data and related information as records (i.e., collections organically 

produced, structured, and interrelated in the course of scientific activity). Preserve the original form, content, 

and structure and sufficient contextual information about the producers and the activities in which the data were 

produced to enable correct interpretation and informed judgment on their reliability and limitations. Not in the 

creation role.

Record Managers Play a functional role between the creators of information and the archivists from a particular institutional 

perspective. Focus on keeping and disposing, with emphasis on protecting and documenting for institutional use.

Researchers Conceive, plan, experiment and analyze data to produce results for scientific publication. Modelers who use data 

(their own or that of other scientists) to develop and run models can be considered a specific class of researcher. 

While most individual researchers focus primarily on data collection and analysis and do not usually focus on 

documentation or preservation, some may carry out the full life cycle function for the data they create. 

Students Assist researchers and or participate in experiment for school/thesis work. May be data producers.

Information and Data Management 

Specialists

Provide operational support to data management operations, including pipeline data processing, ingest into the 

archive, archive management, data access and distribution oversight, production of use statistics, etc. Play the 

roles similar to librarians, archivists, or records managers, but do not necessarily work to the library profession 

standards.

Computer Scientists, Engineers, 

and IT Specialists

Design and develop software to support data management operations (processing, archiving, distribution, etc.) 

following scientist’s specifications. Design and develop (acquire) computer systems to support these operations, 

ensuring speed, security, etc., as required by the project. This includes acquiring hardware, setting up networks, 

and acquiring and installing systems software.

Journalists, Science Writers Translate data from highly scientific fields to be available to other audiences with various levels of scientific 

understanding.

Research Program Directors/Policy 

Makers

Provide overall strategic direction and resource allocation for research programs. Focus on the planning functions 

for data.
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — C9

Exhibit C-5. Individuals by Life Cycle Phase/Function

Individual

Data Life Cycle Phase Data Management Functions

Plan Create Keep Dispose Access Document Organize Protect

Data Center Scientists X X X X X X X X

Data Scientists X X X X X X X X

Librarians X X X X X X X

Archivists X X X X X X X

Record Managers X X X X

Researchers X X X

Students X X X

Information and Data Management Specialists X X X X X X X

Computer Scientists, Engineers, and IT Specialists X X X

Journalists, Science Writers X X X X X X X X

Research Program Directors/Policy Makers X

Exhibit C-6. Entities by Life Cycle Phase/Function

Entities

Data Life Cycle Phase Data Management Functions

Plan Create Keep Dispose Access Document Organize Protect

Data Projects X X X X X X X X

Data Centers / Statistical Agencies X X X X X X X X

Libraries X X X X X X

Information Service Providers X X X X X X X X

Archives X X X X X X

Museums X X X X X X

National/International Infrastructure X X X X

STI Centers X X X X

Computer Centers X X X X

Standards Bodies X X

Audit/Accreditation Bodies X X

Information Distributors X X X X X X X

Hardware Software Developers/Suppliers X X X X
 C10 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — D1

Appendix D

Related Documents
 D2 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — D3

A. Related Documents

IWGDD Key Digital Data Bibliographical References

(Revised 04/08/08)

“A Fresh Look at the Reliability of Long-term Digital Storage.” Baker, Roussopoulos, Shah, Maniatis, Bungale, 

Rosenthal, and Giuli. White Paper. March 2006. http://lockss.org/locksswiki/files/Eurosys2006.pdf

“A Strategy for the National Data Spatial Data Infrastructure.” Federal Geographic Data Committee, 1997. 

http://www.fgdc.gov/nsdi/policyandplanning/nsdi-strategic-plans

“Audit of NSF’s Policies on Public Access to the Results of NSF-Funded Research.” National Science Foundation, 

Office of Inspector General. February 2006. OIG 06-2-004. http://www.nsf.gov/oig/06-2-004_final.pdf

“Climate Change Research: Agencies Have Data-Sharing Policies but Could Do More to Enhance the Availability of 

Data from Federally Funded Research.” Government Accountability Office, Report to Congressional Requesters. 

GAO-07-1172. September 2007. http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/File/News/10.22.07_

GAO_Report_Data_Sharing_Climate_Research.pdf

“Data Management for the North America Carbon Program.” Conkright, Margarita. National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. January 2005.

“The Data Reference Model Version 2.0.” Federal Enterprise Architecture Program. November 17, 2005. 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/documents/DRM_2_0_Final.pdf

“Dealing with Data: Roles, Rights, Responsibilities, and Relationships.” Consultancy Report. Dr. Elizabeth 

Lyon, UKOLN, University of Bath. June 2007. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/

digitalrepositories/dealing_with_data_report-final.pdf

“Department of Defense: Information Sharing Strategy.” Office of the Chief Information Officer. White Paper/

Strategy. May 2007. YouTube Video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85OW0IyeS8s

“EIA 859 Handbook Highlights.” National Archives and Records Administration. September 2004. 

https://acc.dau.mil/GetAttachment.aspx?id=33771&pname=file&lang=en-US&aid=6882

“Electronic Resource Preservation and Access Network Training: The Selection, Appraisal and Retention of Digital 

Scientific Data.” Highlights of an ERPANET/CODATA Workshop. Committee on Data for Science and 

Technology. October 2004. http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/dsj/3/0/3_227/_article

“Environmental Sampling, Analysis and Results, Data Standards Overview of Component Data Standards.” Standard 

No.: EX 000001.0. Environmental Data Standards Council. January 2006. Standard No. EX 000007.1. January 

2006.

“Federal Enterprise Architecture Records Management Profile.” Version 1.0. Office of Management and Budget. 

December 2005. http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/pdf/rm-profile.pdf. 

“Implementation Guide for Data Management GEIA-HB-859. ” January 2006. Available for purchase at 

http://www.techstreet.com/cgi-bin/detail?product_id=1256205.

“Long-Lived Digital Data Collections: Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century.” National Science Board, 

September 2005. http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsb0540/nsb0540.pdf

“National Science Foundation Investing in America’s Future.” Strategic Plan FY 2006-2011, September 2006. 

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/nsf0648/NSF-06-48.pdf
 D4 — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

“NSF’s Cyberinfrastructure Vision for 21st Century Discovery.” National Science Foundation, Cyberinfrastructure 

Council, September 26, 2005, Version 4.0. http://www.nsf.gov/od/oci/CI-v40.pdf

“Preserving Scientific Data on Our Physical Universe: A New Strategy for Archiving the Nation’s Scientific Information 

Resources.” Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications, National Research Council, 

1995. Available for purchase at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=4871.

“Putting People on the Map: Protecting Confidentiality with Linked Social-Spatial Data.” National Research Council 

Report. Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, 2007. http://books.nap.edu/openbook.

php?isbn=0309104149

“Records Management Guidance for Agencies Implementing Electronic Signature Technologies.” National Archives 

and Records Administration. October 2000. http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/faqs/pdf/electronicsigniture-technology.pdf

“Science, Government and Information.” The Weinberg Report to the President’s Science Advisory Committee 

(PSAC), 1963.

“Scientific Data and Information: A Report of the Committee on Scientific Planning and Review Assessment 

Panel.” International Council for Science. December 2004. http://www.icsu.org/Gestion/img/ICSU_DOC_

DOWNLOAD/551_DD_FILE_PAA_Data_and_Information.pdf

“Soil Biodiversity Thematic Programme Data Management Plan.” National Environment Research Council (NERC). 

June 2000. http://soilbio.nerc.ac.uk/Download/datamanplan-V2.doc

“Standard Data Management GEIA-859.” Government Electronics and Information Technology Association. August 

2004. Available for purchase at http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/ER/detail/hkul/3163032.

“The Facts of the Matter: Finding, Understanding, and Using Information about Our Physical World.” Workshop 

Report on a Future Information Infrastructure for the Physical Sciences hosted by DOE and NAS, May 2000. 

http://www.osti.gov/physicalsciences/wkshprpt.pdf

“The Nation’s Environmental Data: Treasures at Risk.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. August 

2001. http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/noaa_pubs/treasures.shtml

“The Role of Scientific and Technical Data and Information in the Public Domain.” Proceedings of a Symposium, 

National Research Council, 2003. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10785

“The State of Data Management in the DOE Research and Development Complex.” Report of the Meeting, “DOE 

Data Centers: Preparing for the Future,” held July 14-15, 2004, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. November 2004. 

http://www.osti.gov/publications/2007/datameetingreport.pdf

“To Stand the Test of Time: Long-term Stewardship of Digital Data Sets in Science and Engineering.” Report to 

National Science Foundation from Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Workshop, September 2006. 

http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/digdatarpt.pdf

INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON DIGITAL DATA