This document specifies the architecture of FAIR Digital Objects (FDOs) as a unified, technology-independent framework for representing and managing digital and physical resources in a machine-actionable manner. FDOs are persistent bundles of information identified by globally unique and resolvable persistent identifiers (PIDs) that resolve to structured FDO Records defined by explicit profiles and registered attributes. The specification describes the core building blocks of FDOs and defines normative requirements to ensure predictability, interoperability, and long-term persistence. By separating abstract object semantics from concrete implementation technologies, the architecture enables interoperability across heterogeneous implementation stacks. FDOs provide a common foundation for repositories, dataspaces, and automated processing workflows, supporting FAIR principles, data sovereignty, trust, and scalable reuse across scientific and industrial ecosystems.

This document is an official publication of the FDO Forum. This document version has the status of a draft work document according to the FDO Forum process. This document will undergo the FDO Forum process for official documents.

Terminology

FDO Building Blocks

Generic FDO Processing