Data literacy as the key to digital sovereignty – Why we should all be more like Scrooge McDuck
This episode is about nothing less than the foundation of digital science: data literacy. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Pelz (TU Darmstadt) explains why data preparation is more important than any AI model, what data literacy education looks like in practice – and why good scientific practice cannot function without good data management. With plenty of plain language, illustrative examples (Lego, washing machines, Raspberry Pi) and a clear appeal: Those who understand data shape the future – in research, business and society.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Digital literacy from the very beginning: Why data literacy should start in the first semester – and how curricula can be made future-proof through practical projects, e.g. with Raspberry Pi or Lego CO₂ balances.
- Data sovereignty is a matter of education: Who owns our data? Why is it risky to give it away unknowingly? And how can students learn to handle data in an appreciative, confident and responsible manner?
- From treasure trove to data powerhouse: Data is not there to be hoarded – it needs to flow. How FAIR data pipelines are built and why standards, semantics and metadata are central to collaborative research.
- Infrastructure for all – Coscine & Co.: How projects such as Coscine (RWTH Aachen University) and Jupyter Notebook access (University of Stuttgart) create technical solutions for effective research data management – open, modular and user-friendly.
- Governance & standards – the basis for sustainable data spaces: What is a ‘FAIR data product’? Why are linguistically defined standards for machine-readable information necessary? And how do information models such as SPEED help with approval, sustainability and production?
- Research meets industry – the example of REUNION: How modular production facilities in the pharmaceutical industry can be approved more quickly thanks to standardised data models – and why this is changing not only medicine but also small and medium-sized enterprises.
The episode is now live and available on multiple platforms:
NFDI podcast
The NFDI podcast focuses on activities of the NFDI consortia and on FAIR research data management. It covers topics such as data sovereignty, AI, ethics and forward-looking technologies.