The ReSA Strategic Plan 2021-23 is now available. This details ReSA’s role in the research sector; its strategic goals and activities for 2021-23, including governance and operational structure; and its approach to evaluation and risk management.

ReSA is supported by top global research infrastructure institutions to function as a backbone organisation across the research sector to increase the community’s ability to collectively impact achievement of the shared vision that research software and those who develop and maintain it are recognised and valued as fundamental and vital to research worldwide.

Read about some of ReSA’s work in the Wellcome Data blog, “The Research Software Alliance: Empowering the research software community worldwide", by Michelle Barker, Daniel S. Katz, and Becky Knowles. ReSA thanks the Wellcome Trust for partnering to accelerate the development of an open research system that recognises and supports research software.

ReSA’s work with the Wellcome Trust is in using the FAIR principles (FAIR meaning findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) as a catalyst for global change. This work will assist in providing researchers with the skills and resources to fully utilise research software, in a system where policy makers and funders value research software, and where organisations adequately reward staff with software expertise.

This month the FAIR4RS WG has formed three new subgroups to address its milestones on the adoption of the FAIR4RS principles. Interested participants can learn about this work in the webinar recording, and join the subgroups to address the following aims:

• Subgroup 5: Adoption guidelines - identify, create and review existing resources that facilitate the adoption of FAIR4RS principles

• Subgroup 6: Adoption support - identify and start to work with early adopters of the FAIR4RS principles

• Subgroup 7: Governance - clarify the governance structure of the FAIR4RS principles to the community from the release onward

This month the FAIR4RS WG presented on FAIR4RS during the FAIReScience workshop at IEEE eScience on 20 Sept. This workshop examined how the FAIR principles can be applied to research objects including software, workflows, machine learning models, and executable notebooks. FAIR4RS WG also members also presented on “Supporting FAIR4RS Adoption Guidelines” at the New Zealand RSE conference on 17 Sept; and the Danish and Swedish Research Data Alliance (RDA) nodes webinar on "How to Make Software FAIR" on 30 Aug. You can find the slides and notes for these events, and many more FAIR4RS WG activities on the FAIR4RS GitHub page.

The FAIR4RS Roadmap is a ReSA initiative to make FAIR research software a reality, including work needed to apply the FAIR4RS principles to skills and training curriculums. A workshop will be held during the RDA Plenary (VP18) from 3-18 Nov 2022, to catalyse community efforts to establish FAIR4RS skills and training curriculums, building on both existing work on research software training for researchers and the growing body of FAIR data skills work. Collaborators includeUS-RSE (Education and Training Working Group), SSI, CODATA-RDA School of Research Data Science, Terms4FAIRskills, and Code Refinery. FAIR research software skills and curriculums need to be identified and incorporated into broader efforts to facilitate increased support and recognition for the qualified personnel needed for open science.

The People Roadmap is a ReSA community consultation that will facilitate identification of major issues in people-themed areas for the research sector ecosystem, as part of ReSA’s key role in the sector to improve collaboration across national and international research software organisations and initiatives. The People Roadmap aims to increase understanding on how to create an environment where research software personnel are recognised, have appropriate skill sets and access to inclusive communities, within policy and infrastructure environments that support their work. It addresses five areas: roles/careers/recognition, skills and training, community development, policy and infrastructure. Sharing of the outcomes of the work begins with a talk by Michelle Barker at the Workshop on Sustainable Software Sustainability (WoSSS) on 7 Oct 2021.

• If you happen to be buying anything from Amazon, you can ask them to send a (very) small portion of their profits from the sale to the Society of RSE as a donation through their Amazon Smile program.

• The Carpentries is calling for nominations for two Executive Council positions, and looking for members to join the newly reactivated Curriculum Advisory Committees. If you are interested in being directly involved with the development and leadership of The Carpentries Curricula, joining one of the Curriculum Advisory Committees (CACs) is an excellent opportunity.