A Persistent Identifier e-Infrastructure: Paper - iPRES 2014 - Melbourne

Persistent identifiers (PIDs) have been recognized as a crucial enabling component for 2020 e-science infrastructures, having the potential of providing global keys for information access, reuse and exchange and creating a complex network of links which connect all the relevant entities in the research data landscape (e.g. digital objects to authors and datasets, authors to institutions and projects, projects to research products and fundings). The creation and full exploitation of this valuable network of connections is currently hindered by the fragmentation and lack of coordination of the persistent identifier ecosystem. Several initiatives have emerged with the aim of offering global identifier repositories for digital and non-digital entities but they are still focused on the needs of specific communities and the lack of interoperability between them is one of the major hurdles for the development of a globally connected scholarly infrastructure. The aim of this paper is to propose a Persistent Identifier e-infrastructure (based on an identifier service called Entity Name System) which provides a technical layer of interoperability which allows current identifier systems to interoperate and be coordinated across geographical, temporal, disciplinary, organization and technological boundaries. The Persistent Identifier interoperability e-infrastructure is presented as a cross-cutting core service enabling the development of advanced added-value services tailored to the specific needs of different communities and stakeholders of the e-science environment