UCalgary RDM Strategy

In the first five-year term of this strategy, the University of Calgary will  

• Review its existing policies, procedures, standards, systems and schedules (see the full list in Appendix A) to determine if revisions are needed to adequately address RDM concerns; 

• Implement any necessary revisions identified during the review process, such as creating new policies, making amendments to existing documents, and/or establishing common definitions; 

• Educate researchers, staff, and other stakeholders as to which elements of the policy framework apply to research data, and which ones do not; 

• Educate researchers on their RDM responsibilities within the policy framework; 

• Ensure that all RDM-related policies, practices and procedures address the diversity of research conducted at the University; 

• Ensure that all RDM-related policies, practices and procedures are supportive and respectful of Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, connecting and being, including respecting and supporting Indigenous data sovereignty, governance, and management; 

• Ensure that all RDM-related policies, practices, and procedures are supportive and respectful of principles of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility; 

• Ensure that all RDM-related policies, practices, and procedures align with and provide support for research security as mandated by the federal and provincial governments; 

• Develop and implement a robust Libraries and Cultural Resources policy for Collection Development which encompasses the collection and preservation of research data;  

• Work through the Office of Institutional Analysis, Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Human Resources, University Legal Services, and the Research Ethics Board (REB) to clarify requirements around privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity related to data about the university community in research, particularly demographic data and other EDI-related data; 

• Ensure that a proactive and reactive communications strategy is developed around RDM requirements and services; and 

• Ensure that the development of the RDM-related policy framework keeps up with the implementation of RDM policies and requirements by funders, publishers, and legislative bodies.  

In the first five-year term of this strategy, the University of Calgary will  

• Continue institutional support for, and maintain strong policy in, areas such as cybersecurity and identity and access management; 

• Undertake hardware refreshes and/or replacements in a timely fashion; 

• Ensure necessary software licenses and service subscriptions are acquired and/or maintained; 

• Pursue CoreTrustSeal certification for our institutional data repository; 

• Ensure researchers have access to long-term data preservation and secure storage for sensitive data; 

• Explore options for ensuring researchers using RCS infrastructure are engaging in best practices in RDM and cybersecurity before they begin using the infrastructure (e.g., through the submission of data management plans); 

• Ensure that RDM-related IT infrastructure is appropriately resourced, in terms of both funding and personnel; and 

• Ensure that the development and maintenance of our RDM-related IT infrastructure keep up with the implementation of RDM policies and requirements by funders, publishers, and legislative bodies. 

Where appropriate, we will work with partners such as the Digital Research Alliance of Canada and the Borealis Dataverse Repository service to maximize the availability of digital research infrastructure to which our research communities have access.  

In the context of RDM, researchers may need to balance data sharing and access with data security provisions. To ensure that the integrity of their research is not compromised, that sensitive data are always secure and protected, and that research results (e.g., data sets, publications, patents) are secure and protected until they choose to disseminate them, researchers should put in place good physical and cybersecurity practices and infrastructure. These practices should be agreed to by all research team members and partners. RCS and the IT Cybersecurity team have developed several research data security guidelines, and provide cybersecurity support to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data services against cybersecurity attacks and data breaches. Information about IT and RCS’s cybersecurity guidelines and support services can be accessed via https://it.ucalgary.ca/it-security.  

In the first five-year term of this strategy, the University of Calgary will 

• Ensure adequate opportunities for RDM-related training and capacity-building for faculty, postdoctoral fellows, staff, and students; 

• Ensure that researchers who work with sensitive data (e.g., human participant data including demographic and health information; Indigenous data; equity, diversity and inclusion data; data involving vulnerable populations, data restricted by legal agreement) are both adequately trained and have adequate support to ensure the appropriate protection of those data; 

• Ensure an adequate number of librarians and staff in Libraries and Cultural Resources who can provide timely, accurate and detailed RDM-related services, support, and training, particularly in the areas of data curation and preservation; 

• Ensure an adequate number of staff in IT/Research Computing Services who can provide timely, accurate and detailed RDM-related services, support and training; 

• Ensure the Research Services Office and Research Ethics Boards have the competence and capacity to provide timely, accurate and detailed RDM-related support for grant applications, ethics applications, and contracts and agreements, by providing RSO staff with appropriate resources and training opportunities; 

• Ensure the Indigenous Research Support Team has the competence and capacity to provide timely, accurate and detailed RDM-related support specific to Indigenous data sovereignty, by providing IRST members with appropriate resources and training opportunities, and by ensuring that this team is staffed and funded appropriately on an ongoing basis; 

• Ensure that research-supporting positions in the faculties – e.g., research facilitators, privacy specialists, and others – have the competence and capacity to provide RDM-related support to researchers, by providing  appropriate resources and training opportunities; 

• Ensure that researchers can easily locate and access usable, up-to-date RDM-related resources and services through the development of an RDM-focused virtual support ‘desk’; 

• Ensure that researchers have resources and opportunities that allow them to increase their knowledge and skills in the area of Indigenous data sovereignty (e.g., supporting training programs for frameworks such as OCAP®);  

• Support researchers in working appropriately with Indigenous partners and communities in terms of Indigenous data sovereignty and research data management; 

• Ensure that researches have resources and opportunities that allow them to increase their knowledge and skills in the area of conducting research related to equity, diversity and inclusion; 

• Establish a proactive and reactive communications plan to keep researchers informed of changes and opportunities in the RDM landscape;  

• Ensure that RDM-related support services are appropriately resourced, in terms of both funding and personnel; and 

• Ensure that the development and maintenance of the University’s RDM-related support services keep up with the implementation of RDM policies and requirements by funders, publishers, and legislative bodies. 

Collaboration across the RDM-supporting units—including but not limited to Research Computing Services, Libraries and Cultural Resources, and the Research Services Office—is essential in ensuring the success of the University’s RDM efforts; ways to support this collaboration should be explored, such as the development of a system or platform to link RDM-related services, requirements, and compliance across administrative units.  

In the first five-year term of this strategy, the University of Calgary will 

• Develop a network of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students and staff who will act as ‘Research Data Champions’ to promote and demonstrate the importance of research data and RDM to their colleagues; 

• Work with local, regional and national partner institutions, both directly and through organizations such as Universities Canada, U15, and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, to advocate for common approaches to and increased support for RDM-related needs, such as financial support for researchers and institutions for RDM-related costs, frameworks for supporting and implementing Indigenous data sovereignty at research institutions and in Indigenous communities, inter alia; 

• Work with Indigenous communities and stakeholders to provide access to research data generated by, with or about Indigenous individuals or communities that are held at the University of Calgary;  

• Work with Indigenous stakeholders and communities to build capacity for data governance and management within communities;  

• Work with external partners and stakeholders from government, industry, and community organizations to clarify expectations of and responsibilities for RDM, including data sharing and re-use where permitted and appropriate; and 

• Encourage our tenure and promotion committees to explore how to incorporate data-related work into their review of research excellence and impact, in line with the University’s commitment to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment.