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Summary
- Why a FAIR organisational maturity model at the Pistoia Alliance?
- Who created the FAIR maturity matrix?
- Who is the FAIR Maturity Matrix for?
- What is the intended use?
- FAIR maturity matrix: Dimensions
- FAIR maturity matrix: Levels
- How to get involved or know more?
Why a FAIR organisational maturity model at the Pistoia Alliance?
At any given time, different organisations are at different stages of their FAIR implementation journeys and benchmarking is challenging. While there are multiple FAIR data maturity models and metrics, there is no simple, agreed, maturity assessment model of FAIR data principle implementation at the organisational level for life-science organisations. The Pistoia Alliance FAIR implementation project set out to design a FAIR maturity matrix in 2023. This document presents the FAIR maturity matrix, an organisational maturity model of FAIR implementation.
Who created the FAIR maturity matrix?
From February 2023 to April 2024, over 20 experts from AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, CSL Behring, Curlew Research, Elsevier, Elixir Europe, Exponent AI, FAQIR Foundation, GO FAIR Foundation, IQVIA, Novo Nordisk, Ontoforce, ORCID, The Hyve, and the Pistoia Alliance contributed to the FAIR maturity matrix documents.
Who is the FAIR Maturity Matrix for?
This resource is for Leadership developing strategies and responsible for allocating resources (finance, people, time) aimed at implementing FAIR data principles. The ecosystem community of practice includes FAIR Data Experts, individuals well-versed in FAIR data principles. The ecosystem organisations include life-science companies, regulatory authorities academic research organisations, as well as implementation partners (for example Contract Research organisations (CROs), technology and information providers, and consulting firms).
What is the intended use?
The Pistoia FAIR maturity model intends to provide an actionable tool for self-assessment. Descriptive rather than prescriptive, the model should enable multiple stakeholders to reach similar conclusions based on observation of a given, specific organisation at a given point in time.
The structure of this first model is a matrix. Each matrix element has to be seen in relation not only to its nearest neighbours for the “maturity axis” but also with all the elements in the same level, or the “dimensions axis”. That should, in turn, indicate concrete directions for improvement.
FAIR maturity matrix: Dimensions
The Pistoia Alliance working group identified seven dimensions to articulate the FAIR maturity model. The dimensions are not hierarchical. Each dimension provides a different and complementary perspective on FAIR implementation journeys, which are complex.
| Dimension | Key notions |
| FAIR data | Data, metadata, data products |
| FAIR leadership | Types of leadership necessary for FAIR implementation |
| FAIR strategy | Now, the next FAIR stage and how to get there |
| FAIR roles | What kind of (human) roles are necessary to implement FAIR |
| Processes for FAIR | Which processes must we explicitly implement |
| FAIR knowledge | What needs to be known for FAIR implementation |
| FAIR tools and infrastructures | From persistent identifiers to controlled vocabularies to semantic models |
Table FAIR maturity matrix: Dimensions.
FAIR maturity matrix: Levels
The working group elected to use 6 maturity levels in alignment with other FAIR data maturity frameworks. The levels are labelled L0 to L5.
| Level | Nickname | Key Features |
| 0 | Life is unFAIR | Lack of awareness, possibly acquiring awareness. |
| 1 | Started the FAIR journey | Awareness started, and the first pilots for implementation. |
| 2 | Getting FAIR | Pilots for implementation are in place |
| 3 | Pretty FAIR | Transition to good and best practice |
| 4 | Really FAIR | Operational, best practice known at the time of writing. Internal organisational focus. Emerging cross-organisation |
| 5 | FAIRest of them all | Aspirational. conceivable but still needs to be realised. Cross-organisation standards and Interoperability |
Table FAIR maturity matrix: Maturity Levels.
How to get involved or know more?
This document is the first version intended to be maintained and updated by the Pistoia Alliance FAIR implementation Community of Experts in subsequent iterations. It can provide high-level orientation and guidance towards more effective FAIR implementation journeys.
If you are interested in the FAIR Maturity Matrix, please contact: fair-maturity-matrix@pistoiaalliance.org
