Where do data competence projects currently stanad? This was the guiding question of the “Statusveranstaltung der Datenkompetenzprojekte” (BMBF) held on September 19–20, 2024, in Berlin. Representatives from projects across the three funding lines – the establishment of data competence centers in science (“Aufbau von Datenkompetenzzentren in der Wissenschaft”), the strengthening of data skills among early-career researchers (“Stärkung der Datenkompetenzen des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses”), and the reuse and management of research data at universities of applied sciences (“Nachnutzung und Management von Forschungsdaten an Fachhochschulen”) – were invited to attend. Also in attendance were representatives from DALIA, as the meta-project, and the NFDI (National Research Data Infrastructure) section on Education and Training (EduTrain). The workshops during the event focused on various key topics, including data literacy and competencies in research data management, training materials and formats, as well as considerations of responsibility, operating models, sustainability and funding.

The DALIA project, also funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), aims to offer a valuable resource to all projects within the research data management ecosystem through its Knowledge Graph for Open Educational Resources (OER) from the field data literacy and research data management (RDM) skills training. The DALIA platform allows OER to be imported and searched, providing a central hub for content creators, curators, and learners alike. Networking with other key players in the field of data literacy and RDM training is crucial to the DALIA project – not only to increase its visibility within the community but also to gather feedback on how to further improve its offerings.

In addition to on-site networking, the DALIA project also hosted a workshop session. Entitled "Synergien nutzen: Fächerübergreifende Lehrmaterialien und Trainingsangebote neu gedacht", the session invited participants to explore existing solutions, plans, and challenges related to the creation of OER service in the projects. Topics included enhancing visibility, identifying opportunities for collaboration and overcoming barriers to cooperation. The session provided a platform for participants to discuss and share insights, making visible both the needs of the projects involved and the existing resources and ideas within the community.

Overall, the DALIA project made significant contributions to the workshop sessions at the event, deepened its networking with the data competence centers and gathered valuable feedback from the community. The results of the collaborative workshop discussions were shared with the participants and processed internally within the DALIA project. The insights and suggestions gathered will be incorporated into DALIA’s ongoing work program.

DALIA would like to extend its sincere thanks to all workshop participants, as well as to Dr. Jochen Ortmeyer (RWTH Aachen University) and Jonathan D. Geiger (Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz) for organizing the session. Special thanks are also due to the BMBF for organizing and funding the entire event.