IDA is a secure storage service offered by the Ministry of Education and Culture to higher education institutions and Academy of Finland projects. It provides free storage of research data and metadata. IDA ensures security through user authentication, virus scanning, and data replication. Users can easily access and share data through different interfaces. Metadata must be provided to describe the data according to the national research data model. In the future, data in IDA can be transferred for long-term preservation as that system is developed.

1. IDA storage service
for research data

2. What is IDA?
The Ministry of Education and Culture offers to higher education institutions
and Academy of Finland projects (Academy projects, centres of excellence,
research programmes, research infrastructures) access to IDA. IDA is a secure,
user-friendly storage service for data and metadata intended for research com-
munity actors. IDA´s operating principles are set by the Ministry of Education
and Culture.
IDA Storage Service
Free of charge for the end user:
• The Ministry of Education and Culture offers the service to the research
community actors
Secure:
• Storage procedures
• Virus scans
• Data replication
Easy to use:
• Haka user identification
• Regular data integrity checks
• Storage capacity usage reports
• Possible to use as a shared data storage system of the research or
project group
• The service can be used through different user interfaces: browser, network
directory and command line
Users are obligated to describe their data according to the minimum metadata
model (www.tdata.fi/dokumentit) defined in the National research data initiative.
Part of the metadata will be automatically attached to data being transferred
to the service. The better the material is described as the better possibilities it
has to be transferred into long-term-preservation. The long-term preservation
solution for research data is currently being developed and will be launched
in the coming years.
The usage of the service is regularly monitored. In case the actual usage of
the granted storage space is significantly less than estimated, the user quotas
might be changed according to the needs. This is done in order to ensure the
efficient use of the service and to flexibly free storage space for other applicants.
Owners of the data can decide on the openness and usage policies for their own
data. Determining data ownership and copyright matters before transferring
data to the service is highly recommended.
IDA is part of the forthcoming preservation system of data. As soon as the
long-term-preservation service is ready, the data from IDA can be transferred
into long-term-preservation.

3. Howto become an IDA user?
Use of IDA by higher education institutions
Anyone interested in using IDA should contact the IDA contact person for
their university or institution. User permit application is submitted to the IDA
contact person. Once the institution accepts the application, it is signed by the
IDA contact person and sent to CSC. More detailed instructions can be found
on the user permit application form: www.tdata.fi/en/idan-kayttajaksi.
Use of IDA by the projects funded by Academy of Finland
Data produced by projects (with an initial capacity of 1 petabyte) receiving
research funding from the Academy of Finland (Academy projects, centres of
excellence, research programmes) and research environment funding (research
infrastructures) is entitled to use of IDA. Projects applying for the IDA quota
of Academy of Finland may submit their applications directly to CSC.
Further information: contact@csc.fi
Use of IDA by the universities of applied sciences
Further information: contact@csc.fi
Additional IDA capacity
Additional IDA capacity may be applied for by projects requiring a large
amount of storage capacity. The Ministry of Education and Culture selects
projects to which a larger quota may be granted based on need and capabili-
ties. It is possible to apply for additional capacity approximately twice a year.
Further information: ida-lisaosuus@postit.csc.fi
Further information
ida@csc.fi
www.tdata.fi/ida
IDA is a service offered to scientific community by the Ministry of
Education and Culture. The service is produced by CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd.