Informed by the Community, for the Community: A Thematic Framework for Interoperability to Drive Greater Data Impact

Abstract A central challenge for global science is enabling data sharing and reuse across diverse systems. This report details the outcomes of the "Improving Data Impact through Governance and Stewardship Activities" session at the ESIP July 2025 Meeting, held both in person at Seattle, WA, US and online everywhere, as a follow-on to the data governance session held at the ESIP July 2024 Meeting. The July 2025 session focused on leveraging data governance efforts to enhance data interoperability in the Earth science community. Through a collaborative, interactive workshop, participants identified key challenges and corresponding actionable solutions related to interoperability across critical artifacts such as Persistent Identifiers (PIDs), file formats, metadata, and vocabularies. The analysis of discussion outcomes resulted in the emergence of a cohesive thematic framework. This framework integrates three essential and interconnected elements: 1. Governance & Leadership, 2. Technical Infrastructure & Standards, and 3. Cultural & Organizational Practices. Combining all these elements, the framework offers organizations a comprehensive and structured approach to enhancing data interoperability and driving greater data impact. This report presents both a historical perspective on two consecutive data governance sessions at ESIP and the analysis of outcomes from the 2025 session. Disclaimer The views expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of ESIP or the authors’ affiliated institutions. This report is being released as a draft pending completion of institutional review.