Abstract
A recurrent problem with the way research data is stored, processed, and accessed is that scientific work environments, as well as research data infrastructures, remain isolated solutions that focus on data from specific disciplines or data produced within specific geographic regions, such as the European Union or the United States. Moreover, scientific work environments and research data infrastructures are based on a wide range of different technical architectures; this hampers the exchange of data among systems. In most cases, the research data infrastructures that are currently in operation remain isolated data silos that supply scientists with the data the systems were designed to deliver but do not allow scientists to discover all data that is available world-wide on a topic or to discover data on related topics provided by a different research data infrastructure.