Persistent Identifiers in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Building Trusted and Interoperable Research Ecosystems in Developing Nations
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and data-intensive research has significantly increased the volume and complexity of scholarly data. Managing this growing digital knowledge ecosystem requires reliable mechanisms to uniquely identify and connect research entities across platforms. PIDs have emerged as a foundational component of modern research infrastructure, enabling the consistent identification of researchers, publications, datasets, software, institutions, and other research artifacts. Within the framework of the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles, PIDs play a critical role in ensuring that research outputs remain discoverable, interoperable, and machine-actionable. Global PID systems such as ORCID, Crossref, DataCite, and the Research Organization Registry support trustworthy scholarly communication by linking research information across digital environments. For developing nations, adopting PID frameworks offers a strategic pathway to enhance research visibility, strengthen data interoperability, and integrate national research outputs into global knowledge networks in AI-driven scientific landscape.
