From 2023 To Now: Adapting Research Data Services In An Era of Ai and Academic Instability

Understanding the research data service offerings across institutional contexts is a perennial challenge. In 2023, as part of an ITHAKA S+R consortial initiative, twenty-nine institutions interviewed researchers and data support experts at their respective institutions to capture a snapshot of research data service offerings and needs across the academic landscape. Through this collaborative effort, each of the contributing institutions sought to identify the challenges researchers face and develop sustainable methods for supporting them locally.

Since that data collection, the higher education landscape has shifted dramatically. The rapid integration of AI into research workflows, coupled with broader institutional instability—particularly in the United States—has fundamentally altered data-related practices and requirements. Two years later, with many team members having transitioned to new positions or institutions, we have a unique opportunity to reflect critically on our findings and efforts: What did we successfully build, and what proved unsustainable? Which challenges persisted or intensified? Have new obstacles emerged that we failed to anticipate? And which insights from our 2023 data remain relevant today?

This "Where Are They Now?" panel brings together perspectives from three academic institutions to examine how research data services have evolved amid this turbulence, what we've learned from both our successes and failures, and how we're adapting our approaches to meet researchers' changing needs in an increasingly complex landscape.