DARSI: An Ontology for Facilitating the Development of Data Sharing and Use Agreements

TL;DR

This paper introduces DARSI, an ontology designed to facilitate the development of Data Sharing and Usage Agreements for sensitive data, aiming to improve data sharing practices while respecting legal and policy restrictions.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel ontology, DARSI, which systematically structures categories and properties to guide the creation of data sharing agreements for sensitive information.

Findings

DARSI contains four top-level classes and detailed subcategories.

The ontology supports structured development of data sharing agreements.

It provides a foundation for automating and standardizing DSUA creation.

Abstract

The advantages of data sharing across organizations and disciplines are indisputable; although, sensitive and restricted data cannot be easily shared due to policies and legal matters. The research presented in this paper takes a step toward systematizing the sharing of sensitive and restricted research data by developing an ontology to frame and guide DSUA (Data Sharing and Usage Agreement) development. The paper provides background context, describes the ontology creation process, and introduces the Data Sharing Agreements for Restricted and Sensitive Information (DARSI) ontology. DARSI contains four top level classes, 20 sub-classes, 33 sub-categories, and 17 simple properties for categories applicable at various levels. The discussion provides further insight into the work accomplished, and the conclusion identifies next steps.