  The Opacity Project (OP) and Iron Project (IP) are pioneering international
collaborations which have been computing, for more than 25 years, massive
atomic data sets for astrophysical applications. We review the data activities
that have been carried out, namely curation, analysis and preservation, and the
development of databases and computer tools for data dissemination and end-user
processing. New opportunities within the current data-intensive boom referred
to as e-science are described, in particular the Virtual Atomic and Molecular
Data Center (VAMDC) that has been recently launched to consolidate and promote
atomic and molecular database services. Key words: atomic data; Opacity
Project; Iron Project; laboratory astrophysics; databases; e-science; virtual
data centers.
