As global agriculture edges deeper into a data-driven era, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is taking a decisive step toward building an integrated digital backbone for future research. The Sustainable Impact through Rice-based Systems (SIRS) Department has convened a high-level workshop with IRRI Country Offices to advance its Data Enablement and Stewardship for Knowledge Exchange (DESK) initiative—aimed at making institutional data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and fully AI-ready.

The workshop brought together data leaders from Kenya, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines—representing agronomy, climate science, gender research, and Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning. Their shared mission: transform IRRI’s diverse data assets into a unified, governed, machine-interpretable system capable of powering next-generation agricultural innovation.

“Data is no longer an output of research—it is a strategic institutional asset,” said Dr. Virender Kumar, Research Director, SIRS, underscoring the DESK Committee’s mandate. Tracing the journey back to 2023, when IRRI began rolling out foundational data management workshops in the Philippines, Dr. Kumar emphasized the need to integrate field-level observations, GIS repositories, and big-data analytics to address increasingly complex global challenges.

Strengthening Data Governance for a Digital IRRI

Despite significant digital progress, IRRI still faces structural bottlenecks—fragmented guidelines, the absence of a reference architecture, and widespread confusion between metadata standards and metafiles.

Dr. Ando Mariot Radanielson, Senior Scientist for Environment and Climate Change, called for a stronger governance backbone aligned with CGIAR’s Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA)—particularly Area of Work 1 on Data Ecosystems. She argued that building a community of practice across IRRI would be essential for enforcing consistent data-sharing protocols internally and externally, shaping the institute’s forthcoming Digital Strategy.

“FAIR data is not just a standard; it is the gateway to scalable, AI-ready agricultural innovation,” Dr. Radanielson noted.

AI Readiness: Closing the Divide

Highlighting the growing global inequality in AI capacity, Dr. Shalini Gakhar, IRRI Data Scientist, warned that an “AI divide” is already visible across research institutions. Ensuring equitable digital transformation requires datasets that are structured, high-quality, and machine-readable.

“FAIR data is the foundation of equitable AI,” she stressed. “Without it, digital agriculture will deepen divides instead of closing them.”

From Principles to Practice: FAIR Scoring and Data Mapping

Participants conducted hands-on FAIR scoring and dataset mapping exercises to assess the readiness of their current data pipelines. Dehner M. De Leon, IRRI Database Management Specialist, introduced key digital tools—including the IRRI Farm Household Survey Database, DESK platform, CC Chooser, Dataverse, Copilot, and Cross Lateral—to improve data stewardship and interoperability.

He highlighted cross-cutting cases where agronomy and breeding datasets converge, such as the Global Market Intelligence Platform (GloMIP) and the Reducing Methane Emissions from Rice (REMET-Rice) project. De Leon also outlined ongoing efforts to define least-common variables to harmonize survey data across countries and projects—a major step toward federation-scale data interoperability.

Looking Ahead

With seven in-house trainings and two CGIAR-level workshops already completed, IRRI is planning a deeper, in-person knowledge integration session next year. The workshop closed with a unified vision: to make IRRI’s data ecosystem not just FAIR, but future-proof, interoperable, AI-enabled, and institutionally governed.

As agriculture confronts climate, productivity, and sustainability pressures, IRRI’s digital transformation agenda signals a shift in how research institutions must operate—moving from siloed datasets toward coordinated, transparent, machine-ready information systems that can power the next era of agricultural innovation.

IRRI’s commitment to embedding rigorous data governance and fostering cross-country partnership positions the institute at the forefront of building a digitally empowered, evidence-based future for rice-based systems worldwide.