🌐Transforming Digital Research Infrastructure for environmental science

Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) for environmental science requires significant transformation to support the changing nature of science and make the most of new digital technologies. A new article in Patterns journal by Dr Kelly Widdicks and UKCEH colleagues describes the challenges and principles guiding this transformation and outlines our multi-dimensional approach to shaping the future of DRI.

Our approach is organised around four core principles:

1. Agile & Co-Design Methods: Collaborating directly with the community to rapidly and iteratively develop Digital Research Infrastructure.
2. Systems Thinking: Understanding environmental system interactions and considering wider impacts like sustainability and ethics.
3. Commons Architecture: Standardising data, models, and methods so they can be integrated for the ‘systems thinking’ science.
4. Transdisciplinary Collaboration: Bringing together diverse expertise to drive this transformation.

Though it brings challenges, the future of DRI for environmental science poses exciting opportunities to advance data collection, management, analysis, insights, decisions, and actions for urgently addressing the climate and ecological crises. We invite the data and digital research community, as well as environmental scientists, to share their experiences and collaborate with us in delivering this vision.

• Read the full article in Patterns journal.

Gordon Blair Susannah Rennie Cell Press