22 June 2026
OGS presented for the first time the Data Steward profiles of the National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC) at the national meeting of the Italian Data Steward Community (CIDS), held this month in Trieste at Area Science Park.
Ten years after the publication of the FAIR principles, which call for data findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability, artificial intelligence is redefining the way research data are managed. What direction will Research Data Management and the professions that enable it take? This was the overarching theme of the meeting, which opened with a discussion between research and industry, illustrating how strategic data management, planned across the entire lifecycle, has become an enabling factor for innovation.
OGS gave the opening presentation on the second day, which sparked debate on the role of the Data Steward, focusing on recognition of this professional profile and the skills needed to support increasingly data-driven research. To this end, Chiara Altobelli, responsible for the NODC Quality Management System, presented the case study carried out by the NODC to advance the recognition of Data Stewards in research. The case study led to the definition of different profiles of Data Stewards, namely Data Steward Research, Data Steward Infrastructure and Data Steward Policy, which together form the backbone of the Data Centre. These profiles were described by Scholtens et al. (2022), which the NODC used as a reference and then adapted to best reflect the specific characteristics of the NODC at OGS. Each Data Steward profile includes a brief description, its position within the NODC, main responsibilities and activities, and minimum requirements. These requirements are grouped into education, experience and competencies, which include knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA).
In relation to this achievement, Altobelli emphasised the importance of implementing the NODC Quality Management System (QMS) in accordance with ISO 9001. In particular, the definition of the Data Steward profiles stems from the preparation of the Organisational Manual (OM), a strategic management tool that enhances internal coordination, increases operational effectiveness and makes the organisation more resilient and adaptable. The internal document is organised into sections, each describing a job role, including those of the Data Stewards.
“The development of the OM has also been driven by OGS’s effort to implement the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) commitments,” Altobelli stated, and continued: “In 2024, OGS joined CoARA and signed the Agreement for Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA). The Agreement provides a framework for reforming the current research evaluation system. In 2025, OGS published its action plan outlining the measures it will take until 2029 to implement the commitments of the Agreement. The plan includes actions to support and reward open science best practices by recognising diversity in research roles and outputs. The NODC contributed to these actions by providing good practice for valuing data stewardship.”
The National Research Council (CNR), INAF (National Institute for Astrophysics), the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and SISSA also took part in the debate, as did the wider community of Italian data stewards attending the event in person or online.
Find out more about the Data Steward at the NODC and the current team on its website.
