The 10th anniversary of the Dataverse Community Meeting, held March 4-8th at CIMMYT, Texcoco, Mexico, served as a platform for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and envisioning the future of data systems, leaving a lasting impact on the participants and the community at large. CIMMYT is crucial in improving the quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems for maize, wheat, and associated crops, especially in the Global South, underscoring its importance in agricultural development.
This gathering, only the 2nd regional meeting for the community, brought together a dynamic mix of 84 onsite and 75 online participants representing 48 organizations across 6 continents, highlighting its global reach and impact. The meeting offered updates on new tools and features, including advancements in AI-Dataverse integration, Globus support for large data, and the annual GDCC updates. Keynotes were delivered by leaders from CGIAR, including Dr. Khuloud Odeh, the Global Director of Digital and Data, and Dr. Sieglinde Snapp, the Director of the Sustainable Agrifood Systems program at CIMMYT.
The meeting provided a valuable platform for the agricultural community to discuss data-sharing use cases, featuring presentations by organizations like the International Potato Center Dataverse (CIP) and a two-day focused meeting on, Data-Driven Systems for Sustainable Agrifoods Systems - Dataverse. This interactive workshop envisioned the future of data systems for sustainable agriculture, drawing insights from real-world use cases in Southern Africa and MasAgro. Participants delved deep into identifying system needs, exploring Dataverse functionalities, and crafting a roadmap for its future evolution. This cross-disciplinary collaboration, spanning genetics, crop breeding, and beyond, laid the groundwork for revolutionary data-driven approaches in sustainable agriculture.
The week kicked off with an exhilarating full-day workshop on the power of Open Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) by ORCID, DataCite, eScire, and Consortia SAS, setting the stage for enhanced research connectivity and trust within the ecosystem. This workshop aimed to deepen participants' understanding of open PIDs' role in enhancing research connectivity and fostering trust in the research ecosystem.
Throughout the week, collaborations focused on improving features and FAIRness in Dataverse, alongside working group meetings on sensitive data, large data support, sustainability, and containerization. Presentations showcased the community's growth and impact since the 2023 meeting, including notable adoption by organizations like the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine for data sharing.
Social events and the hospitality of the CIMMYT campus community enriched the week. Gratitude extends to the entire team, from cafeteria workers, and airport drivers, to security personnel, event planners, La Gruta restaurant staff, and the mariachi band that graced the social events. This incredible experience would not have been possible without their support. Thank you to the planning committee and the Dataverse community for making this memorable week in Mexico a reality.
