Atomic data activities by the OP and IP consortia: past, present and new perspectives within the VAMDC

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.