In 2016, the German Council for Scientific Information Infrastructures (RFII) recommended that a German National Research Data Infrastructure (Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur, NFDI) be established as part of a nation-wide coordinated development of scientific information infrastructures. (Recommendation: https://rfii.de/…) 

The main aim of the NFDI is to promote science and research through a data infrastructure that defines minimal standards for research data, provides data repositories and services, brings forward education and fosters a new data culture. With it, research data management must adhere to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) principles. As current research data is mostly available locally, temporarily, or through projects groups, the NFDI will develop and connect valuable scientific data to enable reuse and long-term accessibility.

The NFDI will be a science-driven initiative; giving scientists the agency to build a framework for research data that would be systematically accessed, networked and used in a sustainable and qualitative manner across the German scientific communities. From 2020 to 2022, up to 30 disciplinary NFDI consortia will be selected across a broad range of scientific disciplines in three successive rounds; the process is managed by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG). Furthermore, the NFDI will be closely connected to international activities like the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

To coordinate the activities in building this research data infrastructure, the non-profit Association German National Research Data Infrastructure (Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur e.V., NFDI), based in Karlsruhe, was founded by the Federal Government and all 16 states on 12 October 2020. There are currently 202 members in the Association as of September 2021.

You can find more information on the evolution of the NFDI and consortia at www.nfdi.de