Description
In this interactive lightning talk, I use "the castle" as a symbol to explore what really protects our open research data and software. While open science supports data, software, experimental results, and other research artefacts to be publicly available and FAIR, it is equally important to consider the security of the same. I will present a simple live ‘Castle Stress Test’, which would help people score some dataset/research software on parameters such as documentation, licensing, testing, maintainer capacity, community, sustainability, and security practices. As the audience responds, we will see how strong - or unstable - our research becomes when one of these blocks is missing.
Drawing on my work in research software engineering, research data management, and recent findings from my study of the RSE landscape in Asia, I will highlight global patterns about gaps in resilient structures underneath. The castle metaphor helps us confront shared challenges such as unclear licensing, unsupported or outdated code, lack of community support, and unaddressed security risks.
Participants will leave with a memorable mental model and a practical question: Which part of your research castle needs reinforcement before the next storm?
