Researching together in the Joint Lab

Making knowledge and information freely available, sharing it, and preserving cultural heritage: TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Technology and Natural Sciences and University Library provides science and industry with literature and information – in printed and electronic form. As Germany’s central specialist library for technology, architecture, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics, it has a unique collection worldwide, including audiovisual media and research data. As a university library, TIB ensures the supply of literature for Leibniz Universität Hannover, and as a research institution it is constantly expanding its role as the German information center for the digitization of science and technology.

TIB is committed to open access to information, publications, and scientific data, to greater transparency and reusability. In order to generate new services and improve existing ones, TIB conducts applied research and development. In doing so, it works closely with the L3S. In order to intensify research cooperation, TIB and L3S have established the Leibniz Joint Lab Data Science & Open Knowledge. In a variety of projects, scientists from both institutions are jointly researching and developing new methods and systems for data networking, searching in large data sets and their exploration. In the process, the researchers are collaborating on many projects with other research institutions, universities, public authorities, and companies from all over Europe. The Joint Lab also serves as a nucleus for broader research and innovation initiatives.

Facilitating scientific exchange

The open science movement has already done much to make research results more accessible. Yet researchers still have to struggle with outdated methods of scientific communication. For example, about 70 percent of scientific articles are locked behind a paywall. Moreover, it is impossible to keep track of the entire scientific canon with the rapidly increasing number of published articles. Even in small research areas, scientists are drowning in a flood of publications. The Joint Lab of TIB and L3S is working on a solution to this problem: The Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG) takes advantage of recent advances in information technology to build the next generation of digital libraries. The ORKG describes knowledge in a structured, machine-readable form and helps researchers find relevant contributions to their field, as well as provide comparisons and overviews of the state of the art. With ORKG, they can explore knowledge in entirely new ways and share results across disciplines worldwide.

Data for more media literacy

Another project at the Joint Lab has set itself the task of combating the spread of fake news and disinformation. The EU project MediaFutures is looking to the media industry for innovative ideas on how to combat disinformation using data. “We want to show that developing a multidisciplinary data innovation hub like MediaFutures can reshape the media value chain across Europe,” says Alexandra Garatzogianni, who coordinates the project at the Joint Lab. Startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and even artists can apply in the competition rounds with products, services, or artworks that can positively, critically, and constructively change citizens’ relationship with quality journalism, science education, and democratic processes.

Secure data exchange

Another EU-funded project coordinated at the Joint Lab is called Trusted Secure Data Sharing Space (TRUSTS). The goal: a European data market based on secure and trusted data sharing. To achieve this, the TRUSTS consortium brings together technology providers that are already heavily involved in large national data market projects. Six companies, including two data providers, are testing the integration in practice. The potential of the TRUSTS platform is demonstrated by three use cases for exchanging business data between companies in sectors such as finance and telecommunications.