We increasingly live in a world that takes place online in a big data stream. When researchers in the SSH-domain have a good digital infrastructure, it makes their work easier. Researchers can then quickly and securely access the information they need.
What do we mean by digital infrastructure?
Digital infrastructure for the social sciences and humanities refers to the technological and organisational resources, such as databases, archives, data analysis tools, computing facilities, and collaborative platforms, that support researchers in these disciplines in collecting, analysing, storing, and sharing data and knowledge. This infrastructure facilitates digital research, improves access to and the sustainability of sources, and promotes collaboration and innovation within research communities.
Infrastructures for SSH researchers
The National Roadmap for Large-Scale Research Facilities identifies which research facilities in the Netherlands are prioritized for investment and development. Within the SSH domain, CLARIAH and ODISSEI are the national core infrastructures included in the Roadmap. CLARIAH and ODISSEI provide university researchers with access to digital collections, tools, training materials, and large-scale datasets.
CLARIAH focuses primarily on digital collections from heritage institutions and archives, such as texts, media, and historical sources, and provides tools for analysing these within the humanities. ODISSEI focuses on large-scale social datasets, such as survey and register data, and facilitates statistical analysis and data linkage within the social sciences. Together, they work on the SSHOC-NL and Macroscope infrastructures.
Both infrastructures connect their national data sources with heritage institutions and archives that manage a large share of SSH data. In addition, they are embedded in international networks through five ERICs (CLARIN, DARIAH, ESS, SHARE, and CESSDA), making it possible to link data across different systems and countries.
Research infrastructures in the Netherlands:
• SURF – national ICT infrastructure for education and research
• DANS – research data archiving and preservation
• Netherlands eScience Center – software engineering
• NWO-LSRI – funding for scientific infrastructure (GWI programme)
• TDCC SSH – strategic network, offering access to NWO funding for collaborative projects
Investments in infrastructure from the sectorplan
In recent years, 22 projects have been funded through the first sectorplan for the SSH domain (Law/infrastructure). The portfolio of funded projects is highly diverse. It includes, among others, projects that provide access to materials and new data sources, infrastructure that creates a Dutch-language participant pool for research, projects in which annotation tools are developed, and environments for analysing sensitive data. These initiatives support researchers across different SSH fields, including social sciences, humanities, law, and economics & business studies.
Of the 22 projects, 15 projects and the LISS Panel ultimately qualified for structural funding.
National council for digital infrastructure
The SSH-council is advised by the National Council Digital Infrastructure SSH (LBDI-SSH), a broad national platform of experts and representatives from ODISSEI, CLARIAH, NWO, the Netherlands eScience Center, SURF, and DANS.
The LBDI-SSH focuses on coordination and collaboration between national initiatives and the development of a national strategy for digital infrastructure in the SSH domain.
Exploration of a digital infrastructure initiative
The LBDI-SSH is currently working on a proposal for a new initiative on digital infrastructure within the SSH domain. This follows discussions with the leadership of the KNAW institutes and the NWO institutes, and is carried out at the request of the SSH-raad.
The aim is to strengthen collaboration between the SSH domain and the institutes of KNAW and NWO, and to develop improved digital infrastructure provisions. This includes storage, tools and software, as well as agreements for the collection, verification, analysis, preservation, and open sharing of research data and outputs.
The urgency stems from key societal and scientific challenges related to digital data, such as data reliability, access to digital sources, and the spread of misinformation. Addressing these challenges effectively requires a broad, cross-domain approach within the SSH research community.
The process consists of three phases: an inventory of needs and bottlenecks, a synthesis of insights with feedback to the SSH-raad, and finally the development of scenarios and recommendations for possible organisational forms and development paths. The process will result in one or more proposals for a new initiative or institute for digital infrastructure.