Australian National Persistent Identifier (PID) Strategy and Roadmap

Persistent identifiers (PIDs) are a core component of a national information infrastructure and key to world-class research and innovation. The ARDC is seeking your input to collaboratively develop a National Strategy and 5-year Roadmap for PIDs.
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The Challenge

Persistent identifiers (PIDs) are critical as they provide global methods to uniquely identify and connect entities in the research system such as researchers, funders, organisations, articles, datasets, software and samples.

  • By linking these entities and enabling research provenance and attribution, persistent identifiers lay the foundation for improved tracking of research impact. 
  • By precisely identifying the inputs and outputs of research, PIDs contribute to research integrity. 
  • By linking scientific concepts across systems, they enable research innovation and efficiency.

The 2022 report Incentives to Invest in Identifiers, commissioned by the ARDC and the AAF, showed the benefits of PIDs to research in Australia. It estimates potential savings of up to $24 million per annum along with 38,000 person days that could be freed up from re-keying information that PIDs provide.

The Approach

To realise the potential saving and drive strategic benefit, the ARDC has begun a process to collaboratively develop a National PID Strategy and 5-year Roadmap to accelerate research and innovation through the use of PIDs. Strategy development is being coordinated by the ARDC’s Consultant Linda O’Brien, and an Australian Persistent Identifier Strategy Taskforce has been established.

The approach to an Australian PID strategy is in part informed by international developments in both research and innovation and the international PID environment. ORCID and DOI, as examples of key PIDs in a national strategy, are international and a national strategy will need to reflect this. ARDC staff are actively engaged in a wide range of PID initiatives internationally including co-chairing the Research Data Alliance National PID Strategies Working Group. This will provide a vital link to the broader environment.

For more information on ARDC’s approach to PIDs, see the ARDC’s PID policy or contact us.

Terms of reference

A Taskforce has been established to: 

  1. provide strategic advice to the sector on the development of the National PID Strategy and a 5-year Roadmap
  2. advocate the engagement and commitment of key stakeholders to the development and implementation of the Strategy and Roadmap
  3. provide advice on a suitable governance structure to oversee the implementation of the Strategy and Roadmap
  4. act in accordance with the ARDC Code of Conduct.

Read the full Terms of Reference for the Australian Persistent Identifier (PID) Strategy Taskforce [pdf].

Membership

Members have been chosen based on their:

  • knowledge of, and involvement in, strategic initiatives in the research and innovation ecosystem, particularly those focussed on connected research, FAIR research and research impact
  • perspectives, which, together, will cover different persistent identifier use cases
  • expertise in persistent identifiers.

The members of the Taskforce are:

  • Professor Keith Nugent, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Innovation, The Australian National University
  • Judi Zielke, CEO, Australian Research Council (ARC)
  • Tony Rothnie, Director, Department of Education
  • Julie Glover, Executive Director, Research Foundations, NHMRC
  • Semira Dautovic, Director, Research Performance and Development, Macquarie University
  • Heath Marks, CEO, Australian Access Federation and ORCID Board Director
  • Rikke Andersen, Senior Policy Analyst, Research & Innovation, Universities Australia
  • Joe Shapter, Chair, ORCID Consortium Governance Committee
  • Shawn Ross, Product Manager, RAiD
  • Adrian Burton, Deputy CEO, ARDC
  • Natasha Simons, Director, National Coordination, ARDC
  • Linda O’Brien, Consultant, For ARDC
  • Matthias Liffers, Executive Officer to Taskforce, ARDC.

Topic-specific Working Groups have contributed use cases to the Strategy and support work for the Taskforce. Eight Working Groups focussed on the following use cases, respectively:

  • grants
  • projects
  • government
  • instruments
  • observations
  • organisations and facilities
  • the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC)
  • non-traditional research outputs (NTROs).

In February 2023, we held a workshop exploring the vision for a National PID Strategy. View the slides presented at the workshop.

A second workshop was held in June 2023.

A draft Strategy has now been developed through the national workshops together with strategic advice received via the Taskforce. It will be refined and accompanied by the Roadmap through an extensive, open, co-design consultation and engagement process with the sector in the second half of 2023.

Community Input

We’re now inviting the Australian research and innovation community to take part in developing the Strategy and Roadmap in the following ways:

Provide feedback on the draft Strategy

You can review the draft Strategy and send your feedback to [email protected] by Friday 10 November 2023.

Book a workshop or presentation

We’re happy to run a workshop for your team and give a presentation at your event. You can request one by emailing [email protected].

Key Resources

Contact the ARDC

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