Transparency in research and the replicability of research data and results is an integral part of good scientific practice. In addition, the re-use of (research) data by other people is now an integral part of empirical social science research. More and more (inter)national research funders, such as the European Commission, as well as journals, require active research data management to ensure that data are of good quality and can be (re-)used by both the original researchers and others in new (research) contexts.
Further information can be found here: Workshops on Open Science.