Data as a Research Infrastructure - CDS, the Virtual Observatory, Astronomy, and beyond

TL;DR

This paper discusses how astronomy's data sharing infrastructure, exemplified by the Virtual Observatory, is advancing through international collaborations, serving as a model for other scientific disciplines' data sharing efforts.

Contribution

It highlights the role of the Virtual Observatory and international organizations like RDA in developing global data sharing infrastructure across disciplines.

Findings

Astronomy has a well-established data infrastructure with the Virtual Observatory.

International collaborations are key to advancing scientific data sharing.

Other disciplines are adopting similar data sharing models.

Abstract

The situation of data sharing in astronomy is positioned in the current general context of a political push towards, and rapid development of, scientific data sharing. Data is already one of the major infrastructures of astronomy, thanks to the data and service providers and to the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). Other disciplines are moving on in the same direction. International organisations, in particular the Research Data Alliance (RDA), are developing building blocks and bridges to enable scientific data sharing across borders. The liaisons between RDA and astronomy, and RDA activities relevant to the librarian community, are discussed.