The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and The Consortia Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information CASRAI are pleased to announce their intention to partner in order to advance a common global approach to research interoperability.

This partnership will advance the CASRAI mandate not only in key research-intensive countries, but also in those countries that are currently building their research capacity. Research efforts in all countries will benefit from fewer obstacles to sharing and collaborating.

‘There is no doubt that the global management of research data and information at hitherto un-thought of volumes is going to be one of the greatest challenges for universities in the near future’, said Professor John Wood, Secretary General of the ACU. ‘All areas of research – from linguistics to genomics – are going to take us well beyond the volumes that physicists are used to. Just how to handle this and to ensure provenance and truth are issues that require a commonly agreed international approach. The ACU is committed to helping its members prepare for the future and is therefore pleased to partner with CASRAI in this venture.’

‘We are extremely pleased to have the ACU join us in this effort’, said David Baker, CASRAI Executive Director. ‘It will be crucial to have their help as we try to advance this common global approach. I am especially grateful for their leadership as we explore ways to include all countries regardless of their current level of research production.’

The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913 and is the oldest international inter-university network in the world, with over 500 members in six continents. Its mission is to strengthen the higher education institutions within its membership through international cooperation and understanding. The ACU operates a series of professional networks for staff in key roles, undertakes research and policy analysis on key issues in international higher education, and has active programmes in libraries and information, research management, gender, and university governance.

The Consortia Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information (CASRAI) is a non-profit standards development organization. We are an international community of leading research funders and institutions collaborating to ensure seamless interoperability of research information. We collectively develop and maintain a common data dictionary and advance best practices for data exchange and reuse between research teams, institutions, and funding agencies throughout the entire life-cycle of research activity.