nfdi.software aims to improve access to and use of research data through suitable software. The appropriate linking and contextualization of research software opens up the possibility of using research data sustainably and expanding the spectrum of analysis and processing. The need for a central point of contact for research software of the NFDI consortia arises from the growing need of scientific disciplines that strive for sustainable use and complementary further developments.

nfdi.software forms the basis for the definition of standards and for networking within the NFDI. In the initialization phase, a concept will be developed based on the experience of existing initiatives, leading to a "prototype for integration". In its initial phase, it will build on four proven solutions, minimizing duplication of effort while maximizing compatibility with other similar and/or complementary efforts. Bio.tools and the Research Software Ecosystem is a portal supported by the European Infrastructure for Biological Information (ELIXIR) where researchers can find and compare digital bioinformatics tools thanks to curated metadata. The Research Software Directory (RSD) aims to find and reuse cross-domain research software, encourage reuse, promote correct citation and make the impact of research software more visible. Betty's Research Engine is a search engine that finds software repositories and links them to corresponding scientific publications and enriches the results with harmonized metadata. Physics.tools searches for referenced software in publications and automatically retrieves accessible metadata information from the code repository. The criteria catalog of the TMF ToolPool Health Research ensures the high quality of the entries. In addition, nfdi.software will use, learn from and integrate other solutions such as Papers with Code, CodeMeta, CFF and Zenodo.

nfdi.software will focus on the needs in the national context in the direction of "One NFDI". As a central service, nfdi.software will collect, merge and harmonize the software metadata from the marketplaces and catalogs of the NFDI consortia and return enriched and curated metadata. The marketplace is thus a complementary platform that also reflects the relevance, acceptance and possibilities of the respective software within the scientific domains.