Isn't a Number and a URL Enough? Why PIDs Matter and Technical Solutions Alone are not Sufficient

Persistent identifiers (PIDs) are an integral part of research data management and can be found throughout the entire lifecycle of research data. However, their ability to function – to ensure persistence – depends on numerous factors: technical infrastructure, international standards and best practices and their dissemination, agreements on long-term governance of infrastructures, etc. Their applicability is diverse and requires adaptation to the resources and entities referenced by them. The paper describes two projects – PID4NFDI and PID Network Germany – that aim to address these challenges.