Launching NAIF: A Look Back at the Information Event
Kick-off webinar highlights NAIF’s roadmap for repository interoperability in Switzerland.
Dr David Johann 
Simon Willemin
Why it matters
Switzerland currently lacks a systematic overview of the research outputs produced at its Higher Education Institutions. Most institutions maintain their own repositories, but these differ considerably in terms of coverage, completeness, and technical standards. This fragmentation severely limits the possibilities for evaluation, analysis, and strategic steering of Swiss research at the national level.
What we did
On Thursday, 28 August 2025, the ETH Library and its seven partner institutions hosted the first official NAIF information event online. The event was open to anyone interested in the future of the Swiss research infrastructure and served as a first public introduction of NAIF - the National Approach for Interoperable repositories and Findable research results.
During the session, the project’s four key objectives were presented. First, it outlined the goal of promoting the responsible use of quantitative indicators in research assessment, supporting the notion to prioritise metadata standardisation within repositories. Second, the project compares national approaches to open research infrastructures across Europe and develops possible and feasible scenarios for Switzerland by engaging key stakeholders. Third, a comprehensive survey and analysis of Swiss institutional repositories will lay the foundation for greater standardisation and interoperability. Fourth, the project aims to enhance national and global academic data through measures, such as the consistent use of persistent identifiers for organisations, researchers, and funding.
What we found
The event highlighted broad interest in the topic, with participants joining from the full range of the Swiss Higher Education landscape. The discussion reinforced the idea that making Swiss research outputs more visible is not only a technical challenge, but also a question of governance, collaboration, and cultural change.
What’s next
NAIF runs from July 2025 to December 2026. The project will continue with a series of workshops and consultations across all four tracks. Upcoming activities include workshops on the responsible use of quantitative scientometric indicators, improvement of academic metadata, and a national survey of Swiss institutional repositories. All interested parties are welcome to follow the project’s progress and to get involved.
For additional context, see the original announcement on the ETH Library website.
Slides from the information event are available on Zenodo: Information event: NAIF (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18633495).