Since October 2024, the Social Sciences and Digital Humanities Archive (SODHA) has been developing a new initiative aimed at addressing one of the most pressing challenges in research data management: the sustainable and secure archiving of sensitive data.

The Dependable Archive for Managing (Sensitive) Records (DAMAR) project marks a significant step forward in creating both a legal and practical framework for hosting sensitive research data. With the recruitment of Louise de Bethune and István László Gyimes, the DAMAR team has worked throughout 2025 to lay the foundations for a system that enables responsible data preservation while safeguarding ethical and legal requirements.

“Sensitive data has become increasingly useful and increasingly vulnerable in recent times. Allowing access, while safeguarding the rights of those concerned is now more important than ever before.” says Louise de Béthune, PhD researcher at the State Archives of Belgium and CiTiP KU Leuven

From Legal Framework to Practical Infrastructure

DAMAR aims to bridge a persistent gap in the research landscape: while increasing volumes of valuable research data are being generated, not all of it can be openly shared due to privacy, ethical, or legal constraints. The project therefore focuses on developing procedures, policies, and infrastructure that allow sensitive datasets to be preserved and accessed in controlled and compliant ways.

Louise de Béthune and István László Gyimes presenting their poster about sensitive data sharing at the Digital Humanities Benelux conference in Amsterdam, June 2025.

A key component of this vision is the proposal to transform existing physical reading rooms within archives into digital reading rooms, enabling secure on-site or controlled remote consultation of sensitive materials.

“The concept of a trusted research environment is easy, but creating one is difficult. Luckily, we have access to the reading rooms at the State Archives, an environment that is already controlled, so we just need to add a digital dimension to them. That way, we can provide better access points for high value research using restricted access data,” says István László Gyimes, digital archivist at the State Archives of Belgium and Postdoctoral researcher at BRISPO, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Building Momentum Through International Engagement

The DAMAR project was formally introduced to the wider community at the Archiving in Times of Data conference, organised by SODHA in March 2025. The event brought together professionals working at the intersection of digital preservation, archival science, and research data management.

Throughout 2024 and 2025, SODHA further strengthened its international presence by presenting DAMAR and related initiatives at major conferences, including IDCC, iPRES, ACM FAccT and EDDI. These engagements have helped position SODHA as an active contributor to discussions on responsible data stewardship and sensitive data governance.

Louise de Béthune presenting at the 7th Annual PrivaCI Symposium in Brussels, May 2025

Expanding the Vision: Towards Interlinked Archives

SODHA is working towards a broader ambition to increase visibility and reuse of archival materials. The emerging Building-Linking-Using (BLU) initiative explores the creation of an interlinked network of repositories and archives. By strengthening collaboration across institutions, the project aims to improve discoverability and create more coherent access pathways for researchers.

Strengthening Skills and Community

Alongside infrastructure development, SODHA continues to invest in community building and capacity development. In the current year, SODHA is co-organising a summer school with EDDI, focusing on digital preservation, data documentation, ontologies, and legal and practical aspects of digital archiving. The programme is designed to bring together GLAM professionals, researchers, and data stewards from both analogue and digital domains.

In December, SODHA will also host EDDI26, further reinforcing its role as a convening actor in the field of digital preservation.

István László Gyimes presenting Project BLU at the EDDI Users conference in Budapest in December 2025.

Looking Ahead: Measuring Metadata Awareness

Building on its work in data documentation and stewardship, SODHA has submitted a new proposal titled MetAwareness to the ECHOES cascading call. The project aims to assess levels of metadata awareness among GLAM professionals, researchers, and the wider public.

Growing Data Deposits and Institutional Cooperation

The past year has also seen a significant increase in data deposits. Notably, datasets from the Social Study group are now available via SODHA, expanding access to valuable research materials.

Through close cooperation with partner institutions Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and KU Leuven, SODHA continues to promote improved data documentation and stronger alignment with FAIR principles. SODHA is actively involved in the data management workgroup at VUB, where it contributes expertise on documentation standards and the importance of data sharing.

This summer, SODHA are hosting their summer school, titled Data x Archives. For more information, check out the event listing.