Three days full of inspiration and information about persistent identifiers

From June 11 to 13, 2024 a successful international conference on persistent identifiers (PIDs) took place in Prague. Organized by the Czech National Technical Library (NTK - Národní Technická Knihovna) and the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), PID enthusiasts, advocates and users came together for PIDfest, or PIDfest for short.

There was a wide range of exchange and information formats. The relevance and importance of PIDs for information sovereignty and scientific integrity was emphasized. Both local and global challenges and opportunities were addressed and discussed. Approaches were presented on how researchers can be involved early in the metadata collection process to avoid additional work for them and the loss of important contextual information. Several sessions were dedicated to the role of PIDs in research information and how their use can be optimized. In this context, the trust-building role of PIDs in the verification of information was also discussed. Current developments were presented during the event, including the use of PIDs for referencing projects via RAiDs (Research Activity Identifier), PIDs for events via ConfIDent, PIDs for biological resources such as antibodies, model organisms using RRIDs, PIDs for material samples via IGSNs or PIDs for research awards and prizes. 

One focus was the exchange on various national strategies for the dissemination of PIDs with partly combined top-down and bottom-up approaches. Frauke Ziedorn (TIB - Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology) reported on the development of a national PID strategy in Germany from the perspective of the PID Network Germany and PID4NFDI projects as well as from the perspective of the TIB DOI consortium and the ORCID DE consortium for PID registrations. 

We will take away many ideas and approaches for the PID Network Germany project. The exchange at the PIDfest was very valuable and stimulating. Overall, the open and respectful atmosphere as well as the professional organization contributed to the fact that the fest(ival) for PIDs was a complete success and left a lasting impression.

A few more insights can be found in our Mastodon profile: https://openbiblio.social/@PIDNetworkDE #PIDfest #PIDNetwork