Executive summary
The Enabling Soil Data project (a coordinated and consistent approach to managing and enabling soil data) is a Soil CRC-supported project focused on making it easier for all Soil CRC partners, including researchers, farmer groups, growers and their advisors, to contribute their existing data and new sensor data into automated and Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) systems. This will be achieved by providing the Soil CRC with reliable, accessible and secure data management processes that resolve data governance, licensing, standards and protocols within and across key data provision for current and future projects. This will ensure that relevant data are managed in terms of appropriate documentation, sharing, quality, analytics, storage, and other protocols. The project commenced in March 2021 as a collaboration between three universities and two government agencies.
Six keystone activities were proposed:
- Define roles, responsibilities, and structure of key guiding groups in data management.
- Identify high value use cases linked to current and future Soil CRC project milestones.
- Propose and refine technical policies and procedures (including standards) and recommendations for making soil data generated through the Soil CRC projects discoverable and reusable.
- Establish and implement data management practices and policies for Soil CRC programs.
- Assess impact and success in review of use cases to achieve project outcomes of sharing data for reuse and benefits to users of this soil data.
- Engage and educate stakeholders on soil data sharing and reuse for current and future Soil CRC projects.
Research engagement from the project focused on matters linked to supporting data management and sharing. The Soil CRC (including program leaders) were engaged on aspects of data governance and where the project could make a significant contribution to data management in the Soil CRC. Feedback and suggestions were used to reshape and prioritise the direction of the project. This high-level direction and guidance set the ensuing pathway for the project.
Policies and practices were reviewed, and an aspirational policy was developed for the Soil CRC. Such a policy has clearly defined roles and responsibilities, best practices defined as exemplars for others to follow, the securing of assets generated through the Soil CRC, community adherence to rules and regulations, and transparency in reporting and processes for managing data.
An approach deployed to support best practice was the formation of a Soil CRC Data Management Plan (DMP). Existing DMPs in literature and used in practice were reviewed to identify a fit-for-purpose DMP to satisfy Soil CRC requirements. This was then shared with various stakeholders in the Soil CRC including the Commercialisation and Intellectual Property Advisory Committee. Feedback was used to refine the DMP making it less onerous while retaining links to key steps in the data management lifecycle.
To best support those managing data in the Soil CRC, a data maturity survey was undertaken to understand where participants in soil research were in their data management practices and understanding of these constructs. This would then help focus efforts on training and development to uplift the Soil CRC in research data management (RDM). A mixed-method approach was deployed with a survey and qualitative engagement through focus group and interviews. The survey ran for three months (August to November in 2022) with a follow-up focus group and interviews in March and April 2023.
To support best practice in data sharing, the identification of suitable repositories to store and manage data for FAIR purposes was deemed a priority. A Data Repository survey was undertaken focusing on partner organisations in the Soil CRC including universities, farmer groups, government agencies and industry organisations. The principle aim of the survey was to understand the suitability of these repositories as long-term storage solutions for research data generated by the Soil CRC. A combination of long- and short-form survey responses were used here to gather this information.
To develop practices and support the sharing of data and the benefits of this for current and future projects, use cases were undertaken from the direction of program leaders. These use cases were engaged to identify their data management needs, issues and how the Soil CRC can support them in achieving their project objectives. Engagement also explored the utility of the DMP for their purposes with feedback used to hone the plan further to meet user needs. Use cases complemented the data maturity survey with findings and interpretations cross-referenced with experiences and sentiments expressed through use cases.
To support this uplift in RDM skills of the Soil CRC, a range of engagement events were undertaken. These included presentations to the HDR cohort of the Soil CRC, presentations of research findings and developments to the Soil CRC and national audiences including the National Soil Science Conference, webinars on DMPs and RDM, and the provision of educational material and resources via the Soil CRC website.