Fairgrounds: Advancing CGIAR Data Ecosystems

Unlocking the Value of FAIR Data

CGIAR generates research findings in a uniquely wide range of disciplines across agrifood systems, from soil health, water systems, and crop performance to climate resilience, forestry, policy, and nutrition. But for this collective knowledge to be leveraged for real-world impact, its underlying research data must be more than stored. It must be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR).

FAIR data turns valuable information into a living asset. It ensures that discoveries made in one project can inform the next, that insights cross institutional and disciplinary boundaries, and that each dataset continues to generate value long after its initial publication.

Fairgrounds is where CGIAR’s data ecosystem comes together in a highly interactive node to make this possible. Launched in January 2025 as a DTA-linked project that directly contributes to the objective of Area of Work 1: Data Ecosystem, Fairgrounds aims to be the gateway for CGIAR to access global research data, while also opening CGIAR’s research data to the world. 

What Fairgrounds Delivers

FAIR Data in Action

Practical tools, practices, and standards that elevate research data to meet FAIR principles. Fairgrounds adopts a use-case based approach, testing different implementation pathways to address real-world challenges and ensure sustained adoption and impact. FAIR data can be easily located, understood, combined, and reused by others. This enables faster discovery, broader collaboration, and greater transparency across projects and institutions.

When data is FAIR, it: 

• Saves time and resources by reducing duplication and rework.
• Enables data-driven decisions built on a broader evidence base.
• Attracts new collaborators and citations through increased visibility.
• Extends the lifespan and impact of every research investment. 

Trusted and scalable Data Governance

Clear frameworks and safeguards give researchers, partners, and funders confidence in how CGIAR data is managed, shared, and protected. Working closely with internal and external stakeholders, Fairgrounds develops a data stewardship and governance framework that defines the roles and responsibilities of data owners, producers, managers, and users, bringing CGIAR Open and FAIR Data Assets Policy into practice. These governance models are designed to be universal and scalable, ensuring consistent data stewardship across centers, projects, and partnerships.  

Trust is at the heart of data sharing. Fairgrounds embeds that trust. It ensures researchers retain control, while enabling responsible, system-wide reuse. 

Scalability is what enables and facilitates collaboration through data sharing across boundaries and disciplines. 

Efficiency & Interoperability

Fairgrounds provides a shared foundational cloud-based infrastructure that enables data federation, reduces duplication, and accelerates data sharing and collaborative research across the CGIAR system. Interoperability, the ability for data to connect seamlessly across systems, means research teams can build on each other’s work rather than starting from scratch. 

Why It Matters

Agrifood systems face urgent, interconnected challenges, from climate change and land degradation to global food insecurity. Meeting these challenges requires not just more data, but better data ecosystems. 

FAIR data ecosystems ensure that: 

• Data is trusted and responsibly shared.
• Data is useful beyond its original purpose or discipline.
• Data can be efficiently integrated into new analyses and tools.
• Data continues to create value long after a project ends.

When CGIAR data is FAIR, it becomes a global public good. Fairgrounds is empowering scientists, policymakers, and innovators to deliver better outcomes for farmers, communities, and the planet.

Who Benefits 

• Researchers
  Spend less time searching, cleaning, and combining datasets, and more time analyzing and publishing. Shared tools make collaboration faster and more efficient.
• Data Stewards & Managers
  Improve the usability and FAIR-readiness of data across projects, while applying consistent, system-wide governance practices that strengthen institutional credibility.
• Project Teams & Collaborators 
  Access shared, multi-disciplinary data and analysis packages that drive new insights, joint publications, and stronger research outcomes.
• Institutional Leaders & Funders 
  Gain visibility and recognition for research outputs, strengthen compliance and trust, and attract new partnerships and investments through transparent, interoperable data.
• Policy Analysts & Decision Makers 
  Use integrated data and scenario analyses to shape agricultural, environmental, and investment policies based on the strongest available evidence.
• Product Development & Breeding Teams 
  Identify new product profiles, target environments, and crop management strategies more effectively by drawing on diverse, connected datasets.
• Agronomists & Field Scientists 
  Access aggregated, cross-domain data to improve on-the-ground decisions in crop, soil, and resource management. 

The Broader Value of FAIR 

FAIR transforms how research creates impact. 

• For science: It strengthens reproducibility, transparency, and cross-disciplinary discovery.
• For institutions: It builds credibility and ensures investments yield long-term returns.
• For society: It accelerates the translation of research into solutions that advance food security, climate resilience, and sustainable agriculture.
• For funders: It amplifies their investments into research because models, insights, findings and conclusions can be used by a broader community and a broader range of purposes.

When data is FAIR, everyone benefits. Every dataset becomes part of something larger: a connected, trustworthy, and enduring foundation for global agricultural innovation.

For more information about Fairgrounds, visit their website 

Contact

Laura Schuchart, Fairgrounds Outreach Lead, L.Schuchart@cgiar.org