This is the nineteenth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October, 2023. Otgonsuvd Badrakh is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. She was nominated by Mongolia.

One famous philosopher said a person who chose his interesting job seems chooses to never work in their whole life. I think this aphorism came true in my life. My basic major is information technology. This major gives me a lot of knowledge that I know. I work at the my institute at the Mongolian Academy of Science since I graduated from my bachelor’s degree in 2009. After I graduated, I graduated the degree Master of Science in Mongolian National University in 2011.

Fifteen years experiences as a researcher for the Mongolian Academy of Sciences keeps my experience in the application of computer science in many fields. Now I am studying in on a doctorate program at the National University of Mongolia in data science.

My research in computer science and data science at these institutes not only provide me insists with strong background and research experience in computation but also in its application in many fields. Several projects and courses provide me with a broad view of computation problems in various fields. I also have gained valuable experience of solving real problems.

Our institute’s main areas of research can be split into two categories of research and development of digital technologies and: the research in theoretical and applied mathematics. In the research and development of digital technologies, we are interested in the topics of artificial intelligence and machine learning, data science, and software development. Since I became the head of the Institute’s Information Technology Department, I have focused my research on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science. I have also focused on using data science in my research in this area since I participated in a big data processing training course in 2019 with a grant from the Government of India.

As a researcher, this will be a great experience for me, and I would like to lead young researchers in Mongolia to improve data science capabilities. Using this opportunity, I would like to study from CODATA and organize the research data of Mongolia, to make data value.

This is the sixteenth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October, 2023. Lianglin HU is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by China.

Professor Hu Lianglin is currently serving as the deputy director of the Big Data department at the Computer Network Information Center (CNIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Additionally, he serves as Secretary General of CODATA China and Director of National Basic Science Data Center (NBSDC), the only general purpose national data center supported by Ministry of Science and Technology, P. R. China. In addition, He initiated CODATA’s Data Ethics Working Group starting in 2022 with Professor Johannes John-Langba of South Africa. With over two decades dedicated to research and practical involvement in scientific data governance and open sharing, he has achieved in areas such as data policy, data quality, data standards, data ethics, and open-sharing service models.

He actively participated in four consecutive CODATA Conferences starting in 2004. In 2006, he took charge of organizing the China-US Round-table on Scientific Data Cooperation. Furthermore, in 2021, he submitted a proposal to establish the Data Ethics Task Group within CODATA and assumed an active role as co-chair after the establishment of the Data Ethics Working Group in 2022. Additionally, serving as Secretary General of CODATA China since 2021, he efficiently organized three successful China Science Data Conferences with an impressive total attendance exceeding 2000 participants. During his service, China Scientific Data Conference was reconstructed to organize discussions related to CODATA’s strategies, implementation of FAIR principles and other priorities proposed by the international data community on four themes of data-driven science, data frontiers across domains, data practices expanded to science-policy-society interface, and open science infrastructures. The latest conference attracted more than 700 data experts in China, including executives from 90% national science data centers. Moreover, his dedication extends to promoting the work of GOSC’s data interoperability group where he serves as secretary.

He conducted extensive research and practical work on data quality, data standards, models for scientific data-sharing services, and data policy. 

• Data quality. He proposed a comprehensive framework based on the scientific data lifecycle, an evaluation index system with corresponding methods, as well as a maturity model for assessing data quality. This model has been widely adopted in China and has led to the development of certification standards. Additionally, he spearheaded the creation of rule-based software for ensuring data quality and played a key role in establishing important national standards such as GB/T 34945-2017 Data Provenance Descriptive Model and GB/T 36344-2018 Evaluation Indicators for Data Quality.
• Data standard. He proposed a comprehensive framework for the scientific data standard system and spearheaded the development of over 30 standards that encompass various crucial aspects and stages of the scientific data lifecycle, including national and group standards. Furthermore, since 2022, he has been appointed as China’s expert for ISO/TC 184/SC 4/WG 13 – Industrial Data Quality.
• Data service model. He collaborated with Professor Li Jianhui to introduce the FAIR principles and data publishing in China. Together, they successfully launched China Scientific Data (http://www.csdata.org/en), the first bilingual and multidisciplinary open-access data journal. Additionally, they established the Science Data Bank (ScienceDB, https://www.scidb.cn/en) as a supporting data repository which later became the designated general repository for Nature journals. 
• Data policy. He led the development and implementation of a CAS-level data policy called “Measure for Scientific Data Management and Open Sharing in CAS” in 2019.
• Data center. He led a team to initiate the construction of the National Basic Science Data Center. Currently, NBSDC houses over 2 PB of scientific data encompassing various fields such as physics, chemistry, materials science, biology (including animals and plants), information science, etc., while simultaneously developing a cross-domain data network.In 2021, NBSDC, as the main initiating member, promoted the establishment of the Open Science International Innovation Alliance.

If elected as a member of the CODATA committee, he will persistently advance the activities and objectives of CODATA.

• As the Secretary General of CODATA China, he will persist in advancing the promotion of CODATA China and Chinese scientific data experts to make greater contributions to CODATA, with a particular emphasis on supporting the attainment of CODATA’s strategic objectives.
• As the co-chair of the CODATA Data Ethics Task Group, which is highly likely to become the Data Ethics Working Group after this year’s GA conference, he will continue to actively promote and advance research on data ethics as well as its practical implementation, while ensuring seamless coordination with other policy outcomes of IDPC (the CODATA International Data Policy Committee).
• As the director of the NBSDC, he will offer data resources and testing environments for CODATA’s initiative on Making Data Work for Cross-Domain Grand Challenges, especially for WorldFAIR+, and his NBSDC is eager to collaborate with all scientific data centers, GOSC,EOSC, ARDC,AOSP,MOPS, NDRIO,NFDI, and other data service institutions or platforms in order to collectively address the challenges on cross-border and cross-language data resource discovery and collaborative services..
• As a data standards expert, he will actively promote the development of CODATA standards work. Furthermore, He will work with CODATA colleagues to support the interoperability among standards and data infrastructures for the demonstration of open science at regional and global levels.

This is the seventeenth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October, 2023. Debasisa Mohanty is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by India.

I am a Computational Biophysicist. I joined National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, India after my education and training at IIT (Kanpur), IISc (Bangalore), Hebrew University (Jerusalem) and Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, USA) in 1998.  

For the past 25 years, I have led the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology research group at NII, New Delhi as faculty and Group Leader and have ensured that data driven research in host-pathogen interactions and disease biology plays a significant role in various research programs of NII.  In August 2022 I took over as the Director of the National Institute of Immunology (NII), which is one of the leading national research laboratories of the Govt. of India in the area of immunology and biomedical sciences.   

My research uses data driven in silico approaches to address complex problems in human disease and immunity. We work on deciphering evolutionary features of biomolecular systems by developing structural bioinformatics and atomistic simulation methods to investigate host-pathogen interactions and disease biology. These approaches have helped us to gain insights into metabolic, signaling and regulatory networks in biological systems.  The innovative data driven computational methods developed by my group have successfully addressed several biologically relevant questions in the broader areas of host-pathogen interactions and disease biology, with specific emphasis on drug target identification and drug discovery for tuberculosis, malaria and SARS-CoV-2 and have resulted in more than 75 publications in leading international journals.  I have been elected as a fellow of all three science academies of India.  

Going beyond research, I also play a leading role in various national projects on data analysis/visualization, data management and formulation of policy for making data available as per FAIR guidelines. I chair the Technical Expert Committee of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India on Theoretical & Computational Biology (Bioinformatics, AI & Big Data), which has been promoting data driven research in Biotechnology in India.   I am also serving as member in the scientific advisory committee of Indian National SARS-CoV-2 Genome Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG) which identified the Delta variant in India during the pandemic,  and other major biological data centric projects in India like Genome-India and Microbiome-India. I am also a member of the Bioscience Application Development group of National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) in India. I have been promoting wider acceptance of cloud computing and FAIR compliant data sharing in India. 

Since 2018 I have been closely associated with formulation of Biotech PRIDE guidelines for deposition of various types of biological data in Indian Biological Data Center (IBDC), a FAIR compliant central repository located in India.  I am Co-Coordinator and Principal Investigator (PI)  of  the IBDC project of DBT,  which is being implemented by three institutes of DBT, namely RCB, NII and ICGEB.

Apart from my role in national data science projects, I am also actively engaged in international initiatives in the area of data science and AI/ML. In 2020 I served in the Digital Revolution taskforce of G-20 organized by Saudi Arabia and contributed to a white paper on role of AI in digital revolution. I am a PI of the NSM supported PDB-India project which is working to establish primary data repository for structural biology in India similar to RCSB, PDB-Europe and PDB-Japan under the umbrella of wwPDB. International advisory committee (AC) of wwPDB has approved a roadmap for PDB-India to join as Associate Member and then transition to full membership.  

My association with CODATA goes back over a decade, starting from having jointly organized the Annual SciDataCON at New Delhi in 2014. I have served as member of the Indian National CODATA Committee from 2014 to 2018 and served as the Chair of the Indian National CODATA Committee in 2018-2019.

I believe given an opportunity to be a member of the executive committee, I can utilize my experience in biological data science to work for the CODATA’s vision of advancing open science by connecting data and people.

This is the eighteenth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October, 2023. Cyrus Walther is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

My name is Cyrus Walther and I am a young passionate physicist serving in my second term as the President of the International Association of Physics Students (IAPS), the Chair of Affiliated Commission 5 of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), and the Vice Chair for the Working Group on Physics and Industry in IUPAP.

My engagement focuses on strengthening the voice of young scientists around the world and advancing their engagement in the global scientific community. Additionally, within my focus on supporting the young generation of scientists, I advocate for the development of a sustainable future. Thus, I am committed to the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD) and the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development(IDSSD), which the United Nations has recently proclaimed.

Intertwining my engagement in the IDSSD with my professional research on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning on uncertainty predictions, IUPAP has submitted the proposal for a Task Group on “Advancing Data Science for Sustainability” to the CODATA General Assembly 2023, which I am nominated to chair. With this Task Group, I aim to enhance the knowledge and awareness of approaches to data science for sustainability. Furthermore, the Task Group will, if approved, develop recommendations to the IDSSD community on the role of Data Science for sustainability in the context of the international decade.

During my presidency of IAPS, I experienced that the young scientist community deserves to receive a broader view of the versatile landscape of scientific unions, academies, and bodies around the world. Following this belief, IAPS joined, among the first 15 young academies and associations, the International Science Council (ISC). Hence, I represent IAPS to the ISC Young Academies and Associations Sounding Board and have been an invited panelist at the ISC Mid-term Meeting 2023 on “Training the next generation of scientists and empowering their voice in international science”. To this date, IAPS remains the only young international association in the membership of the ISC. Thus, my aim is to broaden the membership of young international associations of the ISC through close communication with the ISC membership team. Consequently, such young scientists will get to know CODATA and materialize the next generation of the CODATA community.

Following my expertise in youth engagement, I am eager to create a focal point during my mandate in working closely with the CODATA Connect team. I am thrilled to strategize with the team of young researchers and motivated to provide the team with the resources needed to advance the program. I deeply believe that it is vital to involve the future of science in the mission and objectives of CODATA and CODATA Connect.

All in all, I am thrilled to offer my expertise in international youth engagement and efforts in sustainable development to serve the CODATA community because I believe in the importance of the voice of young scientists in our community and our duty to advance data science to strive for a sustainable future.

This is the fifteenth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October 2023.  Daisy Selematsela is a candidate for the role of CODATA Vice-President or Executive Committee Ordinary Member. She was nominated by South Africa. 

CODATA Executive member candidacy 2023 – 2025

Daisy contributed to the former ICSU (International Council for Scientific Union); ICSU Regional Office for Africa and CODATA on a number of forums since 2007, contributed to position papers, coordinated workshops, chaired conference sessions and made numerous local and international presentations on areas related to ICSU and CODATA objectives. She has served CODATA in the following areas:

Data Science Journal Review – corresponding Editor 2009

Executive member of International Council for Science Union (ICSU SCID) ad Hoc Committee on Information and Data in 2007.Executive member of (ICSU EDC Panel) International Science Union World Data Centre Panel 2008.

Served as ex-officio member of the South African National Committee for CODATA for 11 years that hosted the 2010 CODATA General Assembly in Cape Town.

Chair of International Council for Science: Committee on Data for Science & Technology (ICSU: CODATA) Task Group on Data Sources for Sustainable Development in SADC 2007 -2011.

Contributed to the prototype proposal, development and hosting of the World Data Centre on Biodiversity and Human Health through SAEON (South African Earth Observation Network);

Member of CODATA Task Group on Preservation of and Access to Scientific and Technical Data in/for/with Developing Countries. Co-chairs: CODATA – WDS joint subgroup until 2021.

Daisy served as the Chairperson of South African National Committee for CODATA 2021 -2023 and CODATA Executive Board as ordinary member.

Daisy serves on a number of scientific bodies and a as an editorial board member of a number of journals and the Global Change Research Data Publishing and Repository and a reviewer of several programs.

She serves on a number of national boards and Advisory Councils. Internationally she is a former Board member of Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) and Board of Directors of ORCID (represent EMEA – East Asia, Middle East and Africa) and Research4Life.

She was part of the Founding and Executive Members of the International Data Forum (IDF) 2007-2010. Instrumental in the drafting NRF (National Research Foundation) Statement on Open Access for grant funding; Statement on ORCID ID and Predatory Publishing.

She holds a PhD in Information Science and is also Professor of Practice of Information and Knowledge Management of the University of Johannesburg.; a Fellow of the Higher Education Resource Service for Women in Higher Education (HERS) South Africa and Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, USA. Acknowledged with the Knowledge Management Award in 2016 by the World Education Congress.

The global South requires a voice to champion the positioning of open science and open data challenges and cement CODATA Decadal program in the region. The ISC Open Access project known as ‘Opening the record of science’ which is based on the premise that science is a public good and that the bulk of research is produced using public resources speaks to scholarship challenges in the south. The global South is disadvantaged in accessing free to read publications and the ISC 8 principles explores the role of publishing in the scientific enterprise to optimise the access and benefits of science to wider audiences globally which embraces the narrative of social justice as it applies to the global south. Social justice in this context of open science and open data relates to the information society narrative, and how restriction of access to knowledge led to marginalisation and exclusion. As a librarian and information specialist we encounter researchers and emerging researchers who requires guidance and understanding of the open science and open data processes as part of their research lifecycle as the policies and repositories are developed and hosted in academic and research libraries. The issues of data literacy is core to the training of researchers and students wherein the CODATA Data Schools play a role in raising awareness and understanding of data science. My role at the CODATA level will be instrumental in championing global synergies with the National Committees. 

This is the thirteenth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October, 2023. Dong Liang is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by the International Society for Digital Earth.

We live in a time where digital technologies offer unprecedented potential for progress and development, but whether that potential is realized will depend on global collaboration, open data, and accessible knowledge. As a candidate for Ordinary Member of the CODATA Executive Committee, I’m excited to share my years of experience in bringing together people and information by advancing open data science and international collaboration. My expertise encompasses remote sensing, international partnerships, and applications of big data for solutions to global sustainability challenges. As Assistant Director-General at the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), I lead the effort to utilize big data analytics for evidence-based policymaking. My most important achievements in this domain have used Big Earth Data concepts and methods for data-driven decision-making and for tracking progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For an equitable and prosperous future globally, it is essential to enable developing nations to effectively leverage data science. Therefore, my recent efforts have highlighted the significance of digital public goods for policy and decision support systems to achieve the SDGs. 

During my long-standing direct and indirect engagement with CODATA, I have played an active role in fostering connections and partnerships among different members from across the globe to promote knowledge and data sharing. Over the past several years, I have also contributed significantly to organizing and facilitating CODATA events. I took part in the organization of the CODATA 45th Anniversary Ceremony in 2011 and helped organize the Workshop on Big Data for International Scientific Programmes in 2014. Both of these were milestone events that shaped CODATA’s future strategic plan by convening stakeholders to discuss challenges and opportunities in advancing open data science globally. The meetings also highlighted the need for data-intensive science and the utilization of big data for significant scientific endeavors. 

My experience serving on diverse data committees has equipped me with valuable insights into evolving policy issues and provided me with the opportunity to share perspectives from China. I have also made significant contributions to two partnerships under CODATA’s “Hand in Hand” program, including the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) program and International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE). These partnerships helped expand CODATA’s international cooperation and impact. Furthermore, I have led workshops and facilitate agreements between CODATA and major programs like the Digital Belt and Road Program (DBAR), which strengthened CODATA’s network and cooperation internationally. 

Establishing consensus plays an important role in clearing obstacles related to data sharing, accessibility, and interoperability. Hence, my efforts have consistently been focused on fostering connections between various groups, extending beyond my involvement with CODATA. Throughout the years, I have successfully achieved this objective by organizing workshops that link policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders. These collaborative endeavors have identified challenges and opportunities for open data. 

I have also been a vocal advocate for open science and data-driven development while serving in editorial roles, standards committees, and advisory positions both nationally and internationally. As Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese National Committee of ISDE and DBAR, I actively led official engagements and major international open data efforts to bring data and information to people while building their capacity to use it. I have been a proponent of open science, playing a key role in co-developing the Big Earth Data concept and providing valuable contributions to the SDG Big Data Platform. 

Obstacles still exist in fully harnessing the global potential of open data science. Cultivation of capabilities and the training of data professionals, especially for under-resourced regions, is critically important. As Ordinary Member of the CODATA Executive Committee, my efforts will be directed towards training and development of international research networks to expand data literacy and data skills for global sustainability. A pivotal aspect of this endeavor will be cross-border cooperation to fully harness the vast potential of the concept of open data. I strongly believe that through dedicated collaboration, we can build truly inclusive, ethical, and impactful open data infrastructure and policies that empower people through data. Together, we can drive progress on shared global challenges and usher in a new era of discovery to advance CODATA’s vision and mission.

This is the twelfth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October, 2023.  Marc Nyssen  is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by the International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine.

Marc Nyssen has been active in the fields of medical informatics and biomedical engineering, as a researcher, as a developer, as a professor and as a volunteer. Pioneering in the medical internet applications, advocating Open Data and the adherence to the FAIR principles. He designed and developed several ICT systems in health care, among which the nation-wide electronic prescription system, fully deployed in Belgium. On the international level, he is devoted to the propagation of knowledge and experience world-wide via the IFMBE federation and the IUPESM union, also as promoter of several academic projects and education programs in Africa (RDC, Rwanda, Burundi, Niger) and in Cuba. Also since 10 years a member of the Flemish Data Privacy Authority.

The importance of sharing high quality data among scientists cannot be underestimated, therefore the data committees such as CODATA, especially in the ISC context are instrumental to improve data sharing, primarily in the scientific community but with impact on the whole world.

In my field “medical informatics”, I see two major challenges regarding data that could be addressed:

• the appropriate sharing of medical data, while protecting the privacy of the individual
• the rewarding of scientists who share quality and well documented data, resulting from their research.

To illustrate the importance of the first of these challenges just think of the way tests of new medication are performed: it would not be possible to include millions of patients; therefore potential rare side-effects cannot be detected; well controlled follow-up via appropriately encoded medical records would potentially save lives and hardship when carried out, perhaps over many years. But with respect of the privacy of the participants and their right to retract their data.

In this field, collaboration with the WHO would be a very interesting factor, possibly leading to a breakthrough.                                                                                                        

Scientists currently are judged mainly by the impact factors of their publications. Would it not be good to include an impact factor, related to the well documented quality data they provide to the scientific community?

I will gladly contribute to these and other matters regarding FAIR and Open data.

This is the eleventh in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October, 2023.  Leo Lahti  is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by Finland.

I have a background in computational science. Throughout my 20-year research career I have developed algorithmic solutions for data-intensive problems in a range of application fields from molecular life sciences to ecology, computational history, and computational social sciences. The focus of our research team is the analysis and modeling of complex natural and social systems, and the development of open data science frameworks that help to bridge the gap between theoretical and applied research.

After my doctoral degree (2010) at the Department of Information and Computer Science, Aalto University, Finland, I spent 7+ years abroad in central European research laboratories before establishing my own team at the University of Turku, Finland, where I was recently nominated as professor in Data Science.

I have advocated open science throughout my career, including the development of open research software in microbiome research and open government data analytics (altogether ~10,000 downloads/month), supported by regular international workshops in applied data science. I act currently as vice chair for the national coordination on open science in Finland. As part of this work, I led the working group that developed national policy on open access to research methods and infrastructures (2023). In addition, I am board member in Open Knowledge Finland NGO and its representative in the Ministry of Justice work group that is preparing an updated version for the law on public information in Finland. In 2021 I received national open science award by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies.

I joined CODATA as the national delegate for Finland in 2022, based on my activities in the relevant areas of research and research policy. As part of CODATA I have participated in the national forum and the Data Ethics work group, which will present its recent activities during the International Data Week in Salzburg, Austria. In addition, I have led the national branch in Finland, which brings together the relevant national actors. I am looking forward to continue this work and strengthen the links between CODATA and Northern Europe. I  am willing to develop data science training to promote CODATA mission and responsible openness, with a particular focus on the methods of data science in research and policy work.

This is the tenth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October, 2023.  Virginia Murray is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. She was nominated by the UK.

It is an honour to be nominated again by the UK. To me CODATA’s National Members provide an important link to wider research communities. I would like to facilitate stronger engagement between the UK’s research community and the activities of CODATA and its other members. I would also use these links to enhance my contributions to CODATA’s Executive Committee. I engage closely with The Royal Society and UK Research and Innovation, who support the UK’s national membership of CODATA. I am also a member of the recently established UK International Research Data Initiatives Forum. This forum aims to enhance UK engagement with international initiatives relating to research data policy and practice, including CODATA.   

CODATA’s mission and role to connect data and people to advance science and improve our world is important as ever to help address global grand challenges, including in my own domain of global disaster risk reduction. 

Data is critical for the implementation of the landmark UN agreements of the Sendia Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the COP21’s Paris Climate Conference. With disasters increasing in intensity and severity globally, improving risk information across all types of hazards is critical to enhance our capacity to anticipate, prevent and respond to disaster risks from the local to the global scales. One barrier to sharing and using data effectively has been the lack of standardized definitions of hazards and a lack of guidance on the full range hazards such as hydrometeorological, biological and technological hazards and societal that need to be addressed in risk management. 

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the International Science Council (ISC) jointly established a Technical Working Group (TWG) in 2019 to identify the full scope of all hazards relevant to the Sendai Framework and the scientific definitions of these hazards. I was invited to chair the TWG with strong CODATA Executive Committee representation and partnership.  The TWG with invaluable participation from CODATA colleagues and the project secretariat engaged with scientists in many organisations and UN agency scientific partners to find out how, via consensus building, an all hazard list could best be developed. Outputs included the UNDRR-ISC Hazard Definition and Classification Review – Technical report released in July 2020, and the Hazard Information Profiles: Supplement to UNDRR-ISC Hazard Definition & Classification Review – Technical Report released in October 2021. 

In section 5.3.1, The Report of the Midterm Review of the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030,, this statement is made: 

‘Work undertaken with the International Science Council (ISC) [and UNDRR] and the engagement of more than 800 partners from scientific institutions, including national scientific advisers [with strong CODATA Executive Committee engagement], the research funding community and numerous international organizations, led to the groundbreaking Sendai Hazard Definition and Classification Review Technical Report. The report, which contains 302 hazard information profiles, is a key tool for building common definitions for developing comparable data sets for monitoring and review. It provides a common set of hazard definitions to governments and stakeholders to inform approaches, policies and investments, whether integrated in sectoral interventions or DRR strategies and actions.’ 

Again, with strong CODATA Executive Committee representation, have been invited to chair the UNDRR/ISC Steering Group for reviewing and updating the Hazard Information Profiles for the UN Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction to be held in May 2025.

Using the UNDRR/ISC Hazard Information Profiles and working in close collaboration with CODATA Executive Committee and IDPC I am now also engaged in supporting  Data Policy in Times of Crisis – CODATA, The Committee on Data for Science and Technology – something that, to me,  is vital to consider building our data to manage disasters. 

The implementation of this and related work remains a vital contribution that I hope, as an ordinary member of the CODATA Executive Committee, I could continue to contribute if elected for the next two years, alongside supporting CODATA to deliver the important wider priorities identified in its Strategic Plan 2023-2027.  

More widely, my current roles are as a public health doctor committed to improving health emergency and disaster risk management as well as data access and transparency for effective reporting.  I was appointed as Head of Global Disaster Risk Reduction (GDRR) for UK Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England) in April 2014 and am now a development lead for the new UKHSA Centre for Climate and Health Security. I am a member of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) scientific committee and Co-Chair of IRDR’s Disaster Loss Data (DATA). I am  a co-chair of the WHO Thematic Platform Health and Disaster Risk Management Research Network, and by working in collaboration with this network, I am one of the editors of the WHO Guidance on Research Methods for Health and Disaster Risk Management, updated 2022. I am a visiting/honorary Professor and fellow at several universities.

This is the ninth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 27-28 October 2023.  Tyng-Ruey Chuang is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated bby the Academy of Sciences located in Taipei. 

I, Tyng-Ruey Chuang, was elected to the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member in 2018 and again in 2021. For the five years since I was first elected, I have had the privilege and pleasure working with colleagues in the CODATA Executive Committee and Secretariat, the CODATA members, and various data communities in advocating for greater research data sharing and reuse.

I wish to continue my service in CODATA to advance public and equitable access to research data, and to collaborate with the broader data communities to work forward a world where more data can be shared for the mutual benefits of the people. Today’s data landscape is changing very fast: Datasets from diverse sources – sciences, governments, businesses, citizens, etc. – are being used together to address pressing environmental and societal issues. As a society, we cannot say, however, that all useful datasets are now easily accessible and reusable to all people.

CODATA, as a multidisciplinary scientific body working with (and within) the International Science Council, is at a unique position to make strides in realizing the data for social good vision. To work toward this vision, CODATA would need to connect more to social sciences and humanities research associations, as well as to the global civil society. In particular, CODATA would need to engage with research institutions in Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMIC) and to actively seek participation from underrepresented research communities.

For the last 25 years I have been working with researchers from multiple disciplines on data management systems, copyrights and public licenses, open data policies, and research data infrastructures. I mostly work on collaborative projects. A central goal of these collaborations, always, is to make better use of research data. My training and experience in information science and engineering aligns strongly with the CODATA missions.

I collaborated with the Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute on a communal data workflow for the Taiwan Roadkill Observation Network. The project received a National Agricultural Science Award in 2019. Our work on the Sunflower Movement Archive has contributed to a year-long special exhibition at National Museum of Taiwan History on Social Movements in Post-War Taiwan. Both collaborations emphasize community involvement and the public’s access to research materials. We build and operate the depositar, an open repository freely available to researchers worldwide for the deposit, discovery, and reuse of research datasets.

I had been the public lead of Creative Commons Taiwan since its beginning in early 2003 until its transition to a community project in 2018. I co-led the Open Source Software Foundry (2003-2017). These two long-running projects were supported by Academia Sinica in Taipei to outreach to the general public, researchers, and policy makers in Taiwan about the principles and practices of public licenses and free software. Capacity building is an integral part of the two projects.

In addition to being a member of the CODATA Executive Committee (2018 – 2023), I served in CODATA’s International Data Policy Committee (2014 – 2019) and co-chaired the CODATA–WDS Task Group on Citizen Science and the Validation, Curation, and Management of Crowdsourced Data (2016 – 2018). The 2012 CODATA International Conference was held in Taipei; I led a team in Taiwan working with the CODATA Secretariat to organize the conference to a great success.

I am an Associate Research Professor at the Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, with a joint appointment at both the Research Center for Information Technology Innovation and the Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences. I was a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University, supported in part by a Fulbright senior research grant (2011-2012). I am on the Advisory Committee of Academia Historia, Taiwan. For several times I served as a board member of the Taiwan Association of Human Rights and of the Software Liberty Association of Taiwan.

I have published about 100 research articles. I frequently write for the general public on the topics of Internet (technologies and cultures), digital preservation, and data collaboration, among others. Here is a sampler of my writings for the public: on Open Access to Knowledge during Public Health Emergencies (in Chinese), on Openness, and on Planning for Long-Term Access to COVID-19 Memory Websites.