Evaluating the Applicability of the NII RDC Application Profile to Domain-Specific Metadata Schemas

Abstract

　The National Institute of Informatics (NII) has developed the NII Research Data Cloud (NII RDC) as a foundational infrastructure supporting the full research data lifecycle. A core component of this infrastructure is the NII RDC Application Profile (AP), designed to ensure interoperability among diverse information systems. This study evaluates the applicability of the AP across multiple domains by comparing it with four major metadata schemas widely used in Japan: JDCat, BioSample, Darwin Core, and the MDR Schema. Through a quantitative mapping of metadata properties to AP classes and vocabularies, we found substantial compatibility in describing research outputs (resources), but significant limitations in areas such as research activities, contextual metadata, and access rights management. Drawing from a practical case in the Moonshot Project’s comprehensive pre-symptomatic disease database (Mebyo DB), we demonstrate the effectiveness of a layered metadata model that integrates both common and domain-specific vocabularies. Our findings suggest the need to further develop access-related vocabularies for managing transitions between data sharing and data publication, and to establish flexible governance strategies for vocabulary expansion and layered profile implementation within NII RDC.