FAIR Data: Opportunities and challenges for research infrastructures and research communities

The emergence of diverse and varied data, the complexity of services, and the principles of Open Science have influenced the methods and tools for managing and disseminating research data. They have also impacted the environments for dissemination (i.e., repositories and research infrastructures), while introducing the concepts of trust and FAIR, an acronym with a connotation of fairness. The free, rapid, and large-scale production and circulation of data necessitate rules and techniques that promote more reliable data and services within the realm of Open Science, at least in terms of their technical integrity. Through a brief historical overview, we will explore these developments, their limitations, and future challenges, using the European infrastructure CESSDA ERIC and the corresponding Greek SoDaNet as case studies, as well as the prospects that the adoption of FAIR data in social science research infrastructures may open up, along with the dilemmas it may raise.