Why do we care? Why do we share? What is Open Data?

Natasha SimonsOpen Data, Data Reuse and Research Impact workshopSydney, 5 November 2014

What do we mean by Research Data?

Diagram sources:1. http://www.lib.sfu.ca/research-commons/research/research-lifecycle 2. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/res3/jischelp.aspx

Why should “WE” CARE about data?

Policy

Future...GlobalFundingCollaborations

MetricsPublishing

International initiativesPolicy

OECD principles and guidelines for access to research data from public funding 2007

“Access to research data increases the returns from public investment in this area; reinforces open scientific inquiry; encourages diversity of studies and opinion; promotes new areas of work and enables the exploration of topics not envisioned by the initial investigators”.

http://www.oecd.org/sti/sci-tech/oecdprinciplesandguidelinesforaccesstoresearchdatafrompublicfunding.htm

International contextPolicy

European Commission – Digital Agenda

“... taxpayers who are paying for that research will want to see something back. ... That's why we will require open access to all publications stemming from EU-funded research. That's why we will progressively open access to the research data, too. And why we're asking national funding bodies to do the same.”Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda

Opening Up Scientific Data , speech by Nellie Kroes given at the Launch of the Research Data Alliance/Stockholm, 18 March 2013 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-236_en.htm

National policyPolicy

Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (NHMRC, 2007)Section 2: Management of Research Data & Primary Materials

“The responsible conduct of research includes the proper management and retention of the research data. …The central aim is that sufficient materials and data are retained to justify the outcomes of the research and to defend them if they are challenged. The potential value of the material for further research should also be considered, particularly where the research would be difficult or impossible to repeat.”

https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/r39Code awareness ANDS Guide: http://www.ands.org.au/guides/code-awareness.html

Policy

Australia’s Chief Scientistcontext Chief Scientist“The collaborative response to global challenges isn’t possible unless we get [research infrastructure] fundamentals right first, and one of those fundamentals is sharing high quality research data.”

Professor Ian Chubb AC, Chief Scientist

http://www.ands.org.au/newsletters/newsletter-2014-07.pdf

Funding Bodies

USA - National Science Foundation

The NSF requires that, in an application for funding, Senior personnel should include: A list of: (i) up to five products most closely related to the proposed project; and (ii) up to five other significant products, whether or not related to the proposed project. Acceptable products must be citable and accessible including but not limited to publications, data sets, software, patents, and copyrights.

See http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf13001/gpg_2.jsp#IIC2fic

Funding bodiesFunding bodiesAustralian Research CouncilARC Discovery Grant requirements, February 2014

“Outline plans for the management of data produced as a result of the proposed research, including but not limited to storage, access and re-use arrangements” - ARC Discovery Program Application Form 2014

"Researchers and institutions have an obligation to care for and maintain research data in accordance with the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2007). The ARC considers data management planning an important part of the responsible conduct of research and strongly encourages the depositing of data arising from a Project in an appropriate publicly accessible subject and/or institutional repository”. – ARC Funding Rules, Linkage Program 2014 (various)

ANDS guide: http://ands.org.au/datamanagement/guide-to-filing-in-the-data-management-section-for-the-arc-march2014.pdf

Government

USA - Obama Administration

February 2013, Obama Administration memorandum to the heads of all executive departments and agencies recommends that:

“...digitally formatted scientific data resulting from unclassified research supported wholly or in part by Federal funding should be stored and publicly accessible to search, retrieve, and analyze.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf

Government - federalGovernment

Australia – Declaration of Open Government

“The Australian Government now declares that, in order to promote greater participation in Australia’s democracy, it is committed to open government based on a culture of engagement, built on better access to and use of government held information, and sustained by the innovative use of technology.”

http://www.finance.gov.au/e-government/strategy-and-governance/gov2/declaration-of-open-government.html

PublishersPublishers

Public Library of Science (PLOS)New data policy, December 2013

“PLOS journals require authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception”.

http://www.plosone.org/static/policies#sharing

PublishersPublishers

Nature

“An inherent principle of publication is that others should be able to replicate and build upon the authors' published claims. Therefore, a condition of publication in a Nature journal is that authors are required to make materials, data and associated protocols promptly available to readers without undue qualifications”.

http://www.nature.com/authors/policies/availability.html

http://www.nature.com/sdata/Launched May 2014

Publishers

Data journals

Researchers – data management and sharing

PublishersResearch Institutions

Monash University“Monash University places a high value on the research data produced by its researchers, and recognises this by investing in a variety of strategies to build capacity and capability so data can be properly managed, discoverable, available for reuse and exposed to relevant communities.

The University understands that doing so will contribute to increased research impact, enhanced research practice (including collaboration) and improved educational outcomes, all of which add value to the institution’s education and research agenda.

- Prof Ian Smith, Vice-Provost (Research & Research Infrastructure, Monash University)

http://ands.org.au/newsletters/newsletter-2014-20.pdf

Govt open data portalsWhat is Open Data?

Open Knowledge Foundation

“Open data is data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone – subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and share alike”.

-Open Data Handbook, November 14, 2012

https://okfn.org/opendata/

Govt open data portalsWhy Open Data?

“Open data are the building blocks of open knowledge. Open knowledge is what open data becomes when it’s useful, usable and used”

-Open Data Handbook, Open Knowledge Foundation, November 14, 2012

• Transparency – of research, of government

• Confirm results – allows for verification and replication

• Facilitates creation of new tools – analysis, visualisation, knowledge expansion

• Fuels new discoveries – engages researchers, engages public

Govt open data portalsOpen data example - Open.Nasa

Govt open data portalsOpen Data initiatives

G8 Open Data Charter

“Open data can increase transparency about what government and business are doing . Open data also increase awareness about how countries’ natural resources are used, how extractives revenues are spent, and how land is transacted and managed. All of which promotes accountability and good governance, enhances public debate, and helps to combat corruption”.

European Union open data portal http://open-data.europa.eu/en/data/ UK open data portal http://data.gov.uk US open data portal https://www.data.gov AUS open data portal http://www.data.gov.au

*Note: “data” used in the govt context can simply mean “structured information”https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-data-charter/g8-open-data-charter-and-technical-annex

Government - stateData.gov.au

Govt open data portalsAustralian Government Open Data Toolkit

“So unless there are good reasons to the contrary, government information should be:

Free;Easily discoverable;Based on open standards and machine-readable; andLicensed to be freely reusable and transformable”.

https://toolkit.data.gov.au/index.php?title=Main_Page

Government - stateState govt open data portals - data.qld.gov.au

Govt open data portalsHow is Data made Open?

Open Knowledge Foundation

1. Choose your dataset

2. Apply an open licence

3. Make the data available

4. Make it discoverable- Open Data Handbook, November 14, 2012

Image source:http://intedanddevelopment.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/open-development-open-data-challenges.html#.VEiIySTUegg

Govt open data portalsWhat if data can’t be made Open?

ANDS Guide to Publishing and Sharing Sensitive Data

Sensitive data are ‘data that can be used to identify an individual, species, object, process, or location that introduces a risk of discrimination, harm, or unwanted attention’.

http://ands.org.au/guides/sensitivedata.pdf

Govt open data portalsSome Open Data challenges

• Do researchers see the benefits of opening “their” data?

• Do institutions see the benefits of sharing “their” data?

• How can govt’s increase the number of open datasets?

• The “how” can be complex, time consuming. Should there be degrees of Open?

Image source: http://under30ceo.com/breaking-5-tips-reframing-challenges-opportunities/

Govt open data portalsSome Open Data challenges

http://webfoundation.org/2013/10/open-data-barometer-launched-by-web-foundation-open-data-institute/

“The Barometer highlights that – despite rapid progress – there is much more to be done to unlock the true benefits of Open Government Data. 55% of the countries we surveyed have open data initiatives in place, yet less than 10% of key government datasets across the world are truly open to the public”.- Oct 31, 2013

Open Data Barometer launched by Web Foundation, Open Data Institute