Since 2017, the Persistent Identification of Instruments (PIDINST) working group of the RDA has been working on persistent addressing of instruments. The aim is to create a community-supported, cross-disciplinary solution for the unique and persistent identification of measuring instruments that are actively used in science. Use cases already identified include those from institutions in Germany, such as the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, the Alfred Wegener Institute, and the Forschungszentrum Jülich. The metadata schema developed by the Working Group for addressing instruments is already being applied by DataCite and its members.

The PIDINST Working Group has published a white paper on PID registration for instruments in 2023.