Promoting access to public research data for scientific, economic, and social development

Abstract

It is now commonplace to say that information and communications technologies are rapidly transforming the world of research. We are only beginning to recognize, however, that management of the scientific enterprise must adapt if we, as a society, are to take full advantage of the knowledge and understanding generated by researchers. One of the most important areas of information and communication technology (ICT)-driven change is the emergence of escience, briefly described as universal desktop access, via the Internet, to distributed resources, global collaboration, and the intellectual, analytical, and investigative output of the world's scientific community.The vision of e-science is being realised in relation to the outputs of science, particularly journal articles and other forms of scholarly publication. This realisation extends less to research data, the raw material at the heart of the scientific process and the object of significant annual public investments.Ensuring research data are easily accessible, so that they can be used as often and as widely as possible, is a matter of sound stewardship of public resources. Moreover, as research becomes increasingly global, there is a growing need to systematically address data access and sharing issues beyond national jurisdictions. The goals of this report and its recommendations are to ensure that both researchers and the public receive optimum returns on the public investments in research, and to build on the value chain of investments in research and research data. To some extent, research data are shared today, often quite extensively within established networks, using both the latest technology and innovative management techniques. The Follow Up Group drew on the experiences of several of these networks to examine the roles and responsibilities of governments as they relate to data produced from publicly funded research. The objective was to seek good practices that can be used by national governments, international bodies, and scientists in other areas ...