By Kim Hartley & Michelle Barker

May 2025

The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) is delighted to welcome the Research Data Alliance (RDA) as our latest Organisational Member, further deepening the longstanding, collaborative relationship between our two organisations. Over the years, ReSA and RDA have built a strong foundation of joint initiatives that advance the global research ecosystem.

Founded in 2013, the RDA is a community-driven initiative with a vision that researchers and innovators can openly share and re-use data across technologies, disciplines, and borders to tackle society’s grand challenges. Its mission is to build the social and technical bridges necessary to achieve this vision, through the development, adoption, and use of infrastructure that reduces barriers to data sharing and exchange. The RDA’s global community brings together scientists, researchers, and technical experts through focused Working Groups (WG), Interest Groups (IG), and Communities of Practice (CoP). Membership is free and open to all.

ReSA’s mission is to advance the research software ecosystem by collaborating with decision makers and key influencers. Our mission is woven around community empowerment — bringing leaders and key influencers together to advance research software and the research software community. The outcomes that ReSA works to achieve are developed in close partnership with our community. RDA’s open, community-led approach aligns closely with the values of ReSA, which also aims to coordinate and amplify community-driven efforts — though ReSA’s specific focus is on the recognition and support of research software and those who develop and maintain it. While RDA concentrates on infrastructure for data sharing and exchange, ReSA addresses the equally crucial research software ecosystem.

Advancing research software together

Together, ReSA and RDA have co-led impactful initiatives that strengthen the global research software ecosystem. These include the Policies in Research Organisations for Research Software (PRO4RS) WG and the FAIR for Research Software (FAIR4RS) WG (in collaboration with FORCE11). A major milestone was the endorsement of the FAIR4RS Principles as an official RDA recommendation in 2022. This output has seen significant engagement, with over 24,000 views and 11,000 downloads on Zenodo. The FAIR4RS Principles were formally introduced in a Scientific Data article, which has over 180 citations. This work has catalysed further efforts, including the formation of ReSA-led task forces and adoption support activities (and this two-year update), all contributing to the ongoing implementation of FAIR4RS principles.

In 2023, ReSA co-hosted a successful joint hybrid meeting in Sweden that brought together the Research Software Funders Forum and the RDA Funders Forum. This aligned Funders Forum emerged from a recognition of shared interests and overlap in both focus and participation between the two groups. The discussion aimed to strengthen the integration of research data and research software concerns, foster cross-fertilisation of ideas among funders, and promote collaborative efforts that enhance research impact. Additionally, ReSA and RDA are actively collaborating with LA Referencia to support open science and raise awareness of research software and research data in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

RDA’s research software-focused activities

A number of RDA WGs and IGs are dedicated to software-related topics. These groups contribute to RDA’s broader mission of fostering collaboration and innovation by addressing critical aspects of software management, sharing, citation, and policy development. Notable examples include the Software Source Code IG, which focuses on best practices for describing, citing, and preserving software, especially source code that underpins research data and publications; and the Policies in Research Organisations for Research Software (PRO4RS) WG, co-convened with ReSA, which aims to build a community around institutional policy development to support research software at organisations such as universities and national labs.

RDA Plenary meetings have increasingly prioritised research software as a recurring theme. Since the 20th Plenary in 2023, dedicated software pathways and sessions have addressed topics such as code visibility, FAIR for Machine Learning (FAIR4ML), and software source code policy and incentives. These ongoing efforts reflect RDA’s commitment to enhancing the management, sharing, and sustainability of research software worldwide.

A complementary and evolving partnership

Our organisations play distinct yet complementary roles in the research ecosystem. While our communities intersect — especially through software-focused WGs and IGs — ReSA contributes specialised expertise in research software and helps RDA engage more deeply with this segment of the community. This collaboration is exemplified by contributions such as a presentation given by Daniel S. Katz, Chair of ReSA’s Steering Committee, on our AI position paper during RDA’s State of AI Pilot Workshops, and by our co-leadership of key initiatives like the FAIR4RS WG.

We actively engage RDA’s expertise in research data by involving its Secretariat in strategic efforts, such as the scoping of the first international research software conference and early-stage discussions around the Amsterdam Declaration on Funding Research Software Sustainability (ADORE.software). RDA’s well-established practices — especially their widely respected biannual plenary model — have offered valuable insights for ReSA’s event scoping activity, offering a proven structure for maintaining momentum and accountability in community-led initiatives.

Moreover, we share broader common experiences as alliances operating within the research ecosystem. As the number of alliances, advocacy, and coordination organisations continues to grow (e.g., Open Research Community Accelerator - ORCA), there’s a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities that come with building community, driving change, and sustaining impact across a diverse and evolving landscape.

This reciprocal relationship highlights the unique yet mutually reinforcing contributions our organisations make in advancing shared goals.

We look forward to building on this strong foundation and expanding our collaboration with RDA as we work together to support open science, research data, and research software on a global scale.

Join the Conversation

As we continue to strengthen our partnership and drive progress in research software and data, we invite you to get involved. Explore our collaborative initiatives, participate in upcoming events, and help shape the future of open science.

• Learn more at ReSA’s website and RDA’s website
• Subscribe to our newsletters (ReSA, RDA) for the latest updates

Together, we can build a more sustainable, open, and collaborative research ecosystem!

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