Changing the Culture on Data Management and Sharing: Overview and Highlights from a Workshop Held by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Abstract

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a broad new policy on data management and sharing on October 29, 2020, mandating that all data from NIH-funded or conducted research must be managed and most must be shared. This policy requires the submission of data management and sharing plans in all grant applications consistent with good data management practices and sets expectations for sharing of scientific data generated from NIH-funded or conducted research. The policy recognizes the benefits and opportunities in routine and effective data sharing, and therefore seeks to drive a shift in attitudes and practices across biomedicine in the handling, sharing, reuse, and valuation of biomedical data. In anticipation of the implementation of this policy on January 25, 2023, the NIH sponsored the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Health and Medicine Division to hold a public workshop on “Changing the Culture of Data Management and Sharing.” The workshop was held virtually on April 28 and 29, 2021, and explored the issue from many angles over the 2 days, hearing from > 30 multidisciplinary speakers on what is needed to make this policy impactful and biomedicine ready for this shift. In the following, we provide a summary of the workshop, summarizing each of the sessions and the major areas that emerged over the course of it.