An update from the Commission for Research Information in Germany-KFiD: the FIS Landkarte portal and version 2 of the KDSF standard

Abstract

In 2025, the Commission for Research Information in Germany−KFiD started its second three-year term with the launch of two new products.

The so-called "FIS-Landkarte" portal, i.e. CRIS map, is an interactive and continuously maintained data and information service for mapping and monitoring the research information systems used at universities and research institutions in Germany. The service is jointly provided by KFiD and the DINI working group Research Information and Systems. More than 119 German research institutions have already registered their CRIS, providing interesting insights into the geographical distributions, operative status of CRIS and many more.

Besides the launch of the live FIS-Landkarte portal, the KFiD has also released version 2.0 of the KDSF standard for research information in Germany. The new KDSF standard shifts the focus from a reporting standard to a basic data and metadata model for research information systems: it contains a model of research information entities and specifies how these are defined, linked and processed for further use such as for example in the KDSF reference queries which contain suggestions for KDSF-compatible information queries.