About PRISM
Platform for Research Infrastructure Synergy Mapping
What is PRISM?
PRISM (Platform for Research Infrastructure Synergy Mapping) is a comprehensive web-based platform designed to systematically map and analyze interactions between digital research tools across the research data lifecycle. As a key output of the MaLDReTH II initiative, PRISM facilitates the collection, visualization, and analysis of tool interactions to support improved interoperability and FAIR data practices.
Key Features:
- Interactive tool interaction mapping
- Research data lifecycle visualization
- Comprehensive CSV data export and import
- Enriched metadata (licenses, GitHub URLs, notes)
- Open source tool identification
- Community-driven data collection
- Automated discovery system (coming soon)
MaLDReTH II Initiative
MaLDReTH II (Mapping the Landscape of Digital Research Tools Harmonised) is a Research Data Alliance (RDA) Working Group initiative focused on creating a comprehensive categorisation schema and framework for digital research tools across the research data lifecycle.
Objectives:
- Develop a research data lifecycle model
- Create categorisation schema for tool types
- Build autonomous database infrastructure
- Enable community curation and development
Key Deliverables:
- 12-stage research data lifecycle model
- Tool categorisation framework
- Interactive mapping platform (PRISM)
- Open access searchable database
Research Data Alliance (RDA)
The Research Data Alliance is a community-driven initiative that focuses on building social and technical infrastructure to enable open sharing of data across technologies, disciplines, and countries. The MaLDReTH II Working Group operates under the RDA's Oracle for Research (OfR) umbrella.
Global Open Research Commons (GORC)
This work contributes to the RDA's Global Open Research Commons initiative, which aims to improve interoperability between research tools and support FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data workflows across the global research community.
Support & Acknowledgments
The MaLDReTH II Working Group has benefited from support and resources provided by multiple programs:
Oracle for Research
The original MaLDReTH Working Group received support from Oracle for Research, which enabled the foundational work in mapping the digital research tools landscape.
RDA TIGER
The MaLDReTH II Working Group has received support from the RDA TIGER programme funded under the Horizon Europe Grant agreement ID: 101094406.
Growing the Catalog
PRISM supports multiple pathways for expanding the research tools catalog to ensure comprehensive coverage of the digital research infrastructure landscape.
Manual Curation
Researchers and tool developers can directly add tools and interactions through the web interface, providing detailed metadata and categorization.
Bulk CSV Import
Upload enriched CSV catalogs to rapidly populate the database with tools and interactions. Imported items are flagged for later manual categorization and curation.
Coming Soon: Automated Discovery
An AI-powered discovery system will continuously monitor RSS feeds, GitHub, academic literature, and tool registries to identify new research tools and suggest interactions for human review.
Get Involved
PRISM is a community-driven platform that relies on contributions from researchers, developers, and infrastructure providers worldwide. Your participation helps build a comprehensive understanding of the digital research tools landscape.
Technical Details
Platform: Flask-based web application
Database: PostgreSQL (Production) / SQLite (Development)
Deployment: Heroku cloud platform
Data Format: CSV export & import
Metadata: Enriched tool information (licenses, GitHub, notes)
API: RESTful JSON endpoints
License: Open source contribution to RDA