The Research Data Alliance was launched in 2013 by a core group of interested agencies. Currently the Research Data Alliance is financially supported by the European Commission, the US National Science Foundation and US National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Australian Government’s Department of Innovation. The funding supports RDA operations in terms of the virtual collaborative web platform, communications, outreach and stakeholder engagement activities as well as Plenary Meeting organisation and staff members involved in the RDA Secretariat, responsible for daily RDA operations. RDA Organisational Members pay an annual fee which also supports the alliance's operations.
The core activities are developed through focused Working Groups and exploratory Interest Groups, which are managed and self-formed by volunteer experts from around the world – from academia, industry and government. This worlk is NOT funded by RDA. RDA provides the collaborative work space, together with dissemination and communication support for the work performed by the groups.
