Missed the FAIRfest?

The FAIRfest: Celebrating advancements of FAIR solutions in EOSC post-event report is now available on Zenodo — and it’s not one to miss. Held on 20–21 February 2025 in the charming miniature city of Madurodam, The Hague, FAIRfest wasn’t just a workshop — it was a two-day celebration of community, creativity, and concrete FAIR solutions.

Co-organised by FAIRCORE4EOSC and FAIR-IMPACT, and held alongside the 19th International Digital Curation Conference (IDCC25), FAIRfest brought together over 330 participants from 29 countries, with 233 attending in person and 100 joining online. The diverse group included researchers, developers, data stewards, infrastructure providers, and policy experts — all united by a shared vision for a more open and FAIR European research ecosystem.

A festival of ideas — and implementation

The report offers a rich account of what made FAIRfest truly unique. The programme was structured around the core FAIR principles:

  • F for Findability explored persistent identifiers and knowledge graphs, featuring services like the PID Meta Resolver, RAiD, and the Compliance Assessment Toolkit.

  • A for Accessibility tackled semantic artefacts and the infrastructures needed to ensure data and software remain findable and usable across domains — even for underrepresented research communities.

  • I for Interoperability highlighted the legal, organisational, semantic, and technical challenges of cross-domain collaboration — with speakers stressing the need for shared frameworks and best practices.

  • R for Reusability asked the hard questions: are we truly making data reusable? From certification to metrics to real-world reuse cases, this session brought together sharp minds and sharp questions.

Hands-on inspiration at the Marketplace

At the heart of the event was the Adopters’ Marketplace — a buzzing space where fifteen FAIR solution adopters gave rapid-fire pitches, while poster stands and demo corners offered a hands-on look at tools and services already making an impact.

From FAIRCORE4EOSC components to real-world applications of FAIR-IMPACT support programmes, the Marketplace showed that FAIR isn’t just theory — it’s working, evolving, and growing across communities.

What’s next for FAIR?

The final session brought together global leaders in data stewardship — from the European Commission to the ARDC and EOSC-A — to reflect on the journey so far and the road ahead. While much has been achieved, the panellists agreed: there’s still work to do. Sustaining FAIR principles beyond project funding will require stronger community ownership, smart simplification, and better visibility across national landscapes.

Why this report matters

This report captures not only the energy of the event, but also the real progress being made in shaping FAIR-aligned infrastructures, tools, and mindsets. For FAIRCORE4EOSC, it’s a chance to reflect on the work done — and invite the broader community to pick up the torch.

📘 Dive into the full report now and explore the sessions, takeaways, tools and perspectives shaping the future of FAIR in EOSC.

Read the full report on Zenodo

📸 Photo gallery | 🎥 Watch session recordings

 

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