From data to knowledge | strategy 2026 – 2028

Moving forward from the 2021–2025 policy period and the SEP evaluation in 2024, DANS presents a new strategy for the period 2026–2028. In recent years, DANS has reinforced its position as a centre of expertise in the national and international data landscape by taking full advantage of opportunities for project funding in the Netherlands and the EU, introducing domain-specific repositories based on the global use of the Dataverse open source software, and focusing all activities more exclusively on data.

The data landscape and DANS’ position in its context are changing constantly, but our mission remains the same: to promote the reuse of research data for the benefit of research. This not only implies the importance of continuity but also ongoing and dynamic development. We will continue to interpret this mission in the coming years, all in line with the latest developments in research, technological capabilities, and developments in the data landscape. In doing so, we will, of course, incorporate the recommendations from the 2024 SEP evaluation.

DANS today

Today, in 2025, DANS is a centre of expertise and a leading training hub for data professionals as it supports researchers and repository managers with training, workshops, and practical guidelines. Participation in national and European projects facilitates the sharing of new knowledge, enabling us to advance the development of policy, standards, and innovative applications of research data. Our data repository infrastructure ensures sustainable archiving and encourages the reusability of research data. By fostering this combination of infrastructure and expertise, DANS strengthens both the facilities and the skills needed for the growth of safe and responsible data use.

A dynamic landscape and the role of DANS

With the digital transition in science, data are playing an increasingly vital role not only as a source for knowledge development but also in terms of research results. The optimal (re)use of data for new research is a prerequisite for rapid knowledge development. The Netherlands and Europe continue to promote the sharing of research results through open science agendas, emphasising the principles of traceable knowledge and transparent working methods.

AI is contributing to the acceleration of knowledge development in unprecedented ways, but sometimes it is also in conflict with the principles of open science. With the increasing pressure that global monopolistic commercial digital services are putting on intellectual property, academic freedom, and privacy, data sovereignty will be crucial and urgent in the coming years.

We recognise a growing need to be able to share sensitive data within research and societal knowledge organisations, increasingly supported by new legislation. Societal research institutions increasingly require expertise that can assist in the design and/or implementation of data policy. That is why all of DANS’ activities during this policy period are geared towards a single overarching goal: achieving a real increase in the use of research data in the Netherlands by 2028. To accomplish this:

• We are sharing our expertise as trainers, consultants, and project partners
• We are improving findability and reuse in our repository services
• We are committed to the realisation of a national policy for FAIR data

DANS has a solid foundation as a national institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and enjoys a strong position in national and international networks. DANS’ role as a centre of expertise is becoming increasingly prominent in this regard. In a federated landscape of data professionals and data services, we contribute significantly to the further professionalisation of the data landscape by sharing domain-specific expertise, our extensive experience with international interoperability, and by providing repository services.

Ambitions

As a centre of expertise, DANS will accelerate the professionalisation of data management in the Netherlands so that the reuse of existing data and reusable data will be standard practice in the planning phase of research by 2028. DANS is leading the development of a national training and community platform that provides all data professionals access to up-to-date knowledge. We reinforce the interaction between national and international developments.

DANS’ trustworthy and innovative services will be part of a national open science infrastructure by 2028. We will support a growing number of organisations in setting up and maintaining an institutional data repository and offer individual researchers the opportunity to share their data securely with DANS in the long term and in a suitable thematic repository. By 2028, DANS data will be easily accessible to everyone through a network of trustworthy repositories and through links to diverse types of research output.

DANS will participate in steering the development of a nationally coordinated policy that will facilitate and encourage the reuse of research data by 2028. To this end, we will translate the open science principle of ‘as open as possible and as closed as necessary’ into concrete guidelines and services for the secure sharing of diverse types of data within the framework of legislation and regulations. By 2028, the DANS data services will serve as the national testing ground for the implementation of new policies and the development of best practices.

 To realise our strategy, DANS needs to ensure its continuous development as a learning and professional organisation that knows how to utilise the potential of our knowledge workers and which can safeguard a diverse and inclusive working environment. By 2028, DANS’ services will be supported by a strong organisation and robust financial business cases. This will then have consolidated DANS’s unique contribution to, primarily, the national data landscape and also to the international, particularly European, data landscape.

In the coming years, DANS will play a stimulating and connecting role within the national and international data landscape to increase the actual reuse of research data.