DMPonline is a world-leading DCC service that enables researchers to create data management plans that conform to funder requirements, local guidance and domain best practice. Initially developed to meet the needs of the UK higher education sector, there is now significant international interest which could be translated into a paying market. To make this feasible, the service requires work to make it more robust, more suited to collaborative development and with standards-compliant internationalisation hooks. This requires development resources to get the tool to a point where future earnings can support future development. This request is for 200 days of effort, to be brought in via contractors or recruitment.

Since the launch of the new, improved interface in 2014 (itself partly developed utilising external design contractors), DMPonline has attracted considerable international interest from universities in Europe, USA, Canada, South Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Many external partners are willing to put in time to undertake translation of text and a number of national data management planning pilots are underway. We intend to develop locale-aware support which will enable users to select foreign languages (where applicable), different funder templates and institutional dropdown lists dependent on the context, and single sign-on functionality based on profiles such as Shibboleth and EduGAIN.

DMPonline is currently the best tool on the market, with only one US-based competitor whose participatory model requires significant investment by universities who must join a consortium. DCC aims to take advantage of this to generate an income stream by hosting national versions of the tool. Further investment will help an existing DCC service grow and transform from a national, free service into an international, income-generating service.

An international DMPonline would facilitate international collaboration among data management practitioners.  It would promote the DCC and therefore the University of Edinburgh, as the standard setter in the field and a leader in providing national and international services.