SND Network Meeting: Future of Research Data & Geodata Access – Gothenburg 2026

Networking Event to Focus on Future of Swedish Research Data Infrastructure

A key meeting of the Swedish National Data Service (SND) network is scheduled for April 21-22, 2026, at the University of Gothenburg. The event will center on two critical themes: the future direction of the SND network and open access to geodata. This discussion is important as coordinated research data systems are vital for advancing scientific discovery and public health initiatives.

Day 1: The Future of the SND Network

Last year, a proposal was made to assign national responsibility for coordinating digital research infrastructure to the Swedish Research Council. This proposal includes integrating the SND’s operations into the Swedish Research Council. The proposal also recognizes the significant value of the SND network as a crucial national knowledge hub for managing and accessing research data, and suggests it should be maintained. A formal government directive clarifying these plans is expected in spring 2026.

The first day of the networking event will be dedicated to discussing the implications of this proposal. Participants will explore how the SND network can function effectively as part of the Swedish Research Council. More information about the proposal is available here.

The day will conclude with a networking reception at SND’s facilities and a group dinner at Restaurant Norden.

Day 2: Open Access to Geodata

With 2026 underway, there is a growing emphasis on making all research data as openly accessible as possible. However, it’s also recognized that certain data may require significant restrictions, extending beyond data containing personal information. Geodata, in particular, presents unique challenges regarding accessibility. Some geodata may need limited access, while other datasets may need to remain completely unavailable.

The second day of the networking event will focus on diverse perspectives regarding the accessibility of research geodata. Discussions will address the need to protect endangered species and critical infrastructure, as well as the potential need to withhold information about land and water resources for national security reasons. Participants will consider how to determine which datasets can, should, or must be made available, and who ultimately makes that decision.

As usual, a number of workshops will be offered before and after the networking event; details are below.

Time: April 21, 1:00 PM–April 22, 12:00 PM

Location: Wallenberg Conference Center

Registration: Register for the networking event here. The deadline for on-site participation is April 7.

Remote Access: It will be possible to participate in the networking event remotely (notice details for each workshop).

Contact: Elisabeth Strandhagen

Program

Workshops

April 21

10:00 AM–12:00 PM: SND for Newcomers

An introduction to SND and its work on open access to research data.

Responsible: Sara Svensson, SND.

This workshop is only available on-site.

April 22

1:00 PM–4:00 PM: Forward Together – Towards a Common Archiving Guide for Researchers

This workshop builds on the workshop “How can the archive facilitate researchers do the right thing in archiving matters?” held during the network meeting in October 2025.

Research projects and researchers often move across organizational boundaries and share knowledge with each other regardless of their employment, while universities’ archive functions and information management policies exclusively target their own employees. Can we bridge this gap to create better conditions for jointly developing advice and guidance for researchers? And if so, how should such a guide be designed?

The workshop will start with the different universities’ information or document management plans (NOTE, not DMP) and see what we have in common and where the different universities differ. Can we formulate a guide for researchers for document and data management during ongoing research projects based on this? With participants from Hanna Höie (MAU), Margareta Åkesson (HV), Sofia Särdquist (RA), and Elisabeth Strandhagen (SND).

Responsible: Elisabeth Strandhagen, SND.

Note – this workshop is open for hybrid participation

1:00 PM-4:00 PM: Linking Research Data – Geographic Metadata, Identifiers, and Links

In this workshop, we will focus on methods to improve the searchability, interpretability, and interoperability of dataset descriptions. We will explore opportunities to create links to relevant phenomena in the research process, such as various identifiers and geographic metadata. These methods can be used for manual data curation in tools like DORIS, but also for creating reusable workflows to support research activities.

We will go through how to create, maintain, and use persistent identifiers (PIDs) through various systems to point to everything from organizations to software. We will also look at how AI tools can help you create various geographic summaries that you can use in data descriptions.

We will work with enriching metadata from real datasets in the DORIS tool, so please bring a laptop.

Responsible: David Rayner and André Jernung, SND

This workshop is only available on-site.

1:00 PM-4:00 PM: SND’s Future – Important Experiences and Opportunities Ahead of the Organizational Transition

It’s proposed that SND’s operations be integrated into the Swedish Research Council. The proposal highlights the network as an important national knowledge hub for managing and making research data accessible, but how can we maintain all the values that the network has today?

The workshop aims to identify SND’s and the SND network’s strengths and the parts of the operations that have been most important for universities’ work with research data and which are particularly important to preserve and develop going forward. Building on the discussions from the first day of the network meeting, we would like to collect concrete examples from the network of working methods, structures and values that should be maintained and developed in a new organization.

Participants in the workshop will also discuss what new opportunities and challenges may arise when SND becomes part of the Swedish Research Council. This may concern, for example, coordination and support for universities in the field of research data. The goal is to collect input from the network that can contribute to the continued work of shaping the future of SND in a new organizational environment.

Responsible: Eva Stensköld and Johan Fihn Marberg

This workshop is only available on-site.