Building a Federated Infrastructure for Preservation of and Access to Research Data in the Netherlands: The Front Office-Back Office Model

A federated data infrastructure is emerging in The Netherlands on the basis of the collaborative model proposed in the Riding the Wave report as a framework for the scholarly information system of the future. This federated model is elaborated as a layered front office – back office model, in which university libraries, national data services and basic technical einfrastructure organizations work together. The responsibilities and functions performed by the various stakeholders involved in the federated infrastructure are clearly complementary. The costs and benefits are distributed efficiently over the stakeholder. The introduction of the model is timely, because many research organizations are currently developing data management policies. Therefore the federated infrastructure is attractive for all parties involved.