Metadata for FAIR principles

Metadata is information about data, and its importance is derived from the data it described. In many cases, metadata can be even more central than the data itself. This is particularly evident in containerization technologies, where data from diverse sources must be linked and made usable across disciplines. Metadata is indispensable for managing, standardizing and extracting knowledge. It acts as a cornerstone for reuse of research data and software, which fully aligning with the FAIR principles. Beyond this, metadata is not a technical necessity but also a key enabler for semantic technologies, including knowledge graphs and ontology mapping. In this sense, metadata functions both as the structural mechanism and as a conceptual bridge for advancing interoperability, reusability and long-term sustainability in research data and software management. Its role becomes especially visible and evident when it is aggregated from different research objects and applied across multiple levels and dimensions, offering diverse perspectives on usability.