Certification Schemes for Research Infrastructures

Abstract

This working paper discusses the use and importance of various certification systems for the field of modern research infrastructures. For infrastructures such as CLARIAH-DE, reliable storage, management and dissemination of research data is an essential task. The certification of various areas, such as the technical architecture used, the work processes used or the qualification level of the staff, is an established procedure to ensure compliance with a variety of standards and quality criteria and to demonstrate the quality and reliability of an infrastructure to researchers, funders and comparable consortia. The working paper conducts this discussion based on an overview of selected certification systems that are of particular importance for CLARIAH-DE, but also for other research infrastructures. In addition to formalised certifications, the paper also addresses the areas of software-specific and self-assessment-based procedures and the different roles of the actors involved.