A solid foundation: EASY and the first phase of growth
Since its founding, DANS has placed data storage and accessibility at the heart of its mission. A good starting point is 2009, the year we reached the milestone of 10,000 datasets in our former repository EASY.
EASY was then the online archiving system for depositing, managing and reusing research data. It offered access to collections from a wide range of disciplines, such as the NHDA and the Steinmetz Archive, which served as the e-depot for Dutch archaeology. EASY laid the groundwork for today’s Data Stations.
In the years that followed, the number of datasets increased rapidly. By 2019 we had passed 100,000 datasets, and by 2020 we had even reached 150,000 thanks to the many researchers and institutions who chose to make their data available through DANS.
Innovation: the DANS Data Stations
This continued growth revealed a clear need for a more flexible infrastructure that could better meet the specific requirements of researchers. Building on the foundation laid by EASY, we launched the domain-specific Data Stations: Archaeology, Social Sciences & Humanities, Life Sciences, and Physical & Technical Sciences.
With this step, DANS took an important stride towards FAIR data storage (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). The Data Stations offer researchers an environment that reflects the practices of their own field and makes it easier to keep data discoverable and reusable.
Looking ahead: building a sustainable data infrastructure
Today, DANS hosts an impressive 329,045 datasets and the number keeps rising. The Data Stations provide a solid basis for responding to new developments, as research data become increasingly diverse and complex. Emerging themes, such as linking data to AI applications or connecting datasets through linked data, call for an infrastructure that can evolve along with them.
What remains central is our ambition to support researchers with a reliable and innovative home for the long-term storage and reuse of research data.
