DRIVER II · Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research

DRIVER is a multi-phase effort whose vision and primary objective is to establish a cohesive, pan-European infrastructure of Digital Repositories, offering sophisticated functionality services to both researchers and the general public. The present proposal (`DRIVER Phase-II') aims to introduce key innovations compared to the original `DRIVER' project, while building on its results. The main novelties envisioned are: Establishment of a ``European Confederation of Digital Repositories'' as a strategic arm of DRIVER; Inclusion of Digital Repositories with non-textual or non-publication content, e.g., images, presentations, and possibly primary data; Construction of ``enhanced publications'', which combine interrelated information objects into a logical whole, e.g., publications coupled with relevant presentations and associated datasets; Provision of advanced functionality to address the requirements raised by the above innovations or to serve varied modes of scientists' research explorations. Additionally, DRIVER Phase-II moves from a test-bed to a production-quality infrastructure, expands the geographical coverage of Digital Repositories included in it, intensifies state-of-the-art and future-direction studies, and escalates dissemination, training, and community building activities. `DRIVER Phase-II' significantly broadens the horizons of the whole DRIVER endeavour regarding infrastructure operation, functionality innovation, and community relevance, and constitutes a major step on the way to the envisioned Knowledge Society.