Vocabulary Symposium Shines a Spotlight on FAIR

The recent Vocabulary Symposium focused on vocabularies that underpin FAIR cross-domain data.
A conference hall full of people. A person is speaking at the lectern with two people sitting on the stage

The Vocabulary Symposium was held on 14 to 15 November 2022 online and in person at the Australian National University. Co-produced by the ARDC, the Australian Data Archive and CODATA, it brought together more than 200 users, creators and publishers of vocabularies across multiple domains and sectors in Australia and internationally. Participants shared experiences and identified requirements for FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) vocabularies that underpin cross-domain data.

The Symposium was followed by a 2 and a half day invitation-only workshop. A spectrum of domains was represented, including government; humanities, arts and social science; health and medical; Indigenous; and geospatial, earth and environment. The diverse participants worked through hands-on exercises and scenarios to map out the current vocabulary landscape and identify future requirements.

To see the recordings and resources from the symposium, visit our resource page.

Vocabularies Featured on ABC Radio National

Dr Simon Hodson, Executive Director of CODATA, spoke on ABC Radio National after the Vocabularies Symposium 2022, discussing the impact of FAIR data on research.

Dr Hodson said, “Australia’s been playing a leading role globally in data stewardship and good data practices. It started off with the Australian National Data Service and now that’s being continued by the ARDC. It has been an effective and influential model for the rest of the world.

“The ARDC looks after Research Vocabularies Australia, a service that looks after vocabularies on the web, both so scientists can consult them and so that their computers can reference them. It’s vital for effective science.” 

Listen to Dr Hodson’s interview with Julian Morrow on Saturday Extra, ABC Radio National.

The ARDC is funded through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) to support national digital research infrastructure for Australian researchers.