This is the twenty-first in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 17-18 October 2025. Pankaj Kumar is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by the International Geographical Union.

Dear colleagues, 

I have the honor to present my candidature as an Ordinary Member to the CODATA executive committee. I am Dr. Pankaj Kumar, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India, and currently serving as Assistant Secretary General of the International Geographical Union (IGU). Previously, I served as Secretary of the IGU Commission on Biogeography and Biodiversity (2016–2020) and the Commission on Mountain Studies (2020–2024). Guided by the IGU Vision and Strategy 2024–2028, which emphasizes Open Science, I have been deeply engaged in advancing this global mission. I also contributed to the drafting of the IGU Statement on Academic Freedom and Ethics (IGU-SAFE) and led the IGU Executive Committee’s establishment of the GeoAI Task Force, reflecting my commitment to the ethical and innovative use of artificial intelligence in geospatial research.

My research focuses on climate vulnerability, disaster risk reduction, environmental sustainability, and mountain livelihoods. My work integrates open-access Earth Observation (EO) data, open-source software, cloud computing, and GeoAI for monitoring, mapping, and Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB). These initiatives directly contribute to Open Science and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In recognition of these contributions, I was honoured with the National Geospatial Faculty Fellow Award 2024 from IIT Bombay under the Ministry of Education’s FOSSEE initiative.

My association with CODATA has been long-standing and productive. Since 2021, I have served as IGU’s liaison to CODATA and, since 2023, as a member of the International Data Policy Committee (IDPC). My research aligns with the IDPC Topics for Action 2023–2025, particularly in ethics, AI policy, and data governance. Building on this collaboration, an IGU–CODATA joint panel titled “Operationalizing GeoAI for Sustainability: Data Governance, Data Visitation, and Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS)” has been proposed for the IGU Regional Conference 2026 in Istanbul, Türkiye.

Earlier, I co-organized the ICSU CODATA PASTD–IGU International Training Workshop on “Big Data for Science and Sustainability in Developing Countries” (Hyderabad, 2017) and participated in CODATA’s Beijing Workshop on “Scientific Big Data Sharing and Publication for Developing Countries.” I have also represented IGU and CODATA in multiple global forums, including the UN Geospatial Knowledge and Innovation Week 2024 (China), the 35th International Geographical Congress 2024 (Ireland), and the DBAR–CODATA Big Earth Data Session 2025 (China), International Symposium on Open Science Cloud (ISOSC), Suzhou, China—where I spoke on GeoAI, geoprivacy, and academic freedom in IGU.

These engagements reaffirm my belief that Open Science becomes meaningful only when coupled with capacity development and equitable access. I am dedicated to expanding CODATA’s outreach to social scientists, educators, and practitioners through mentorship and skills-building initiatives. IGU, under my coordination, is eager to strengthen collaboration with CODATA on data quality, reliability, ethics, and AI/GeoAI policy frameworks.

My candidacy is grounded in the conviction data are more than technical resources — they are tools for empowerment. The Data–Information–Knowledge–Wisdom (DIKW) framework plays a crucial role in understanding and addressing complex challenges. It highlights how raw data evolve into information, information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom, enabling informed decisions.

My active and long-term engagement in IGU commissions and experience as Assistant Secretary General of the International Geographical Union (IGU) have placed me in a position to shoulder new responsibilities as an Executive Committee Ordinary Member of CODATA. I am very keen to contribute to the mission of CODATA to connect data and people at international, national, regional and local level to advance data policy and open science, and to effectively contribute to global and local challenges of today’s increasingly digital societies.

This is the twenty-first in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 17-18 October 2025. Yasuyuki Minamiyama is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by Japan.

My expertise is interdisciplinary data curation methodologies, and I have conducted research on the sharing and reuse of research data. From 2019 to 2025, I participated in the Japanese national project for developing a national research data infrastructure and led research on the functional development of research data curation across various fields. I am currently working on upgrading the social survey data archives at the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Japan.

In CODATA, I was initially involved in data-related activities since 2014 at the National Institute of Polar Research, one of the WDCs. In the context of my expertise, I led the launch of the data journal “Polar Data Journal” in collaboration with the WDS Sub-Committee of Science Council Japan. This is the first Research institution-led data journal initiative in Japan and has published a total of 58 data papers as of June 2025. I was also involved in CODATA activities as a member of the RDA/CODATA Legal Interoperability IG, which was established in 2013. I joined the IG in late 2016, and I launched a WG to discuss legal aspects of research data in RDUF (Research Data Utilization Forum) in Japan. RDUF is a potential counterpart of the RDA in Japan. I led the RDUF WG to discuss the possibility of its implementation in Japan and conducted research for localization. Finally, the WG developed a set of guidelines for practitioners, incorporating the essence of this guideline and reflecting Japanese legal practices.

In Japan, I have worked with researchers working with data in the humanities and social sciences to develop guidelines for the proper handling of data in the JSPS-led ‘Programme for Constructing Data Infrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ in 2021. I have also involved to write policy recommendations on open science by the Science Council of Japan in 2022. Since 2024, as chair of the RDUF’s planning committee, I have been working with data curators from various fields – earth sciences, life sciences, materials science, humanities and social sciences – to form a cross-disciplinary community. 

I am also actively involved in international networking, such as the Research Data Alliance (RDA) and the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR). My recent activities include being a co-proponent of a session on Research data stewardship in the Asia Pacific at SciDataCon 2025.

Drawing on these experiences, I would like to further strengthen the relationship by intermediating CODATA’s initiatives with common Japanese data-related activities. I believe Japan has the potential to significantly expand its contribution to CODATA’s diverse and wide-ranging initiatives. I intend to participate in CODATA’s initiatives from the perspective of my expertise in data curation, as well as actively connecting Japanese stakeholders with CODATA’s initiatives and helping to expand the community.

 

This is the twentieth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 17-18 October 2025. Audrey Masizana is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. She was nominated by Botswana.

Affiliation:

• Institution: University of Botswana 
• City: Gaborone
• Country: Botswana
• Role: Senior Scholar, University of Botswana

Nationality of Candidate:    Botswana

I, Audrey Masizana have been a member of Executive Committee of the CODATA since 2021. I hold a PhD in Computer Science from University of Manchester UK (2004). I am also a fellow of Botswana Academy of Sciences (FBAS) since 2021 and this year in 2025 have been elected as Vice President of the Academy. I also serve as Global Health International Scholar of University of Pennsylvania, USA (2023-2026).

I am a very passionate advocate of Open Data and Open Science Policies and Practices locally and across the continent and to that effect I currently chaired the development of the Botswana National Open Data Policy established by the Botswana Presidential Task Force (Smart Bots) in March 2021, which is now awaiting approval by Botswana Cabinet.

I have over the years gained enormous experience in spear heading academic networking platforms including  chairing conferences such as Information Technology for Development (IASTED Africa 2014, 2016), International Conference in Cyber-Security and Information systems conference series referenced in ICICIS 2016 and here.  Also chairing the Local Organising Committees of the  International Data Week (IDW 2018)  in Botswana and the Viz Africa conferences  delivered in collaboration with CODATA, World Data Systems (WDS) and Research Data Alliance (RDA).

I also continue to support and contribute to the implementations of the African Open Science Platform (AOSP) having been a member of technical advisory committee while it was being established in 2017.  I strongly believe its delivery will improve on policy front across the continent.

I currently serve as a Project Investigator on behalf of University of Botswana on several interdisciplinary projects aligned to my research area in Scientific Application of Data.  These include 

• Towards Open Science Communities Development in Sub-Saharan Africa Region, OSCAR 2.0 European Commission (EU) (2024 -2026) 
• Development of eHealth Enterprise Architecture for Botswana, Global Health Sciences at the University of California San Francisco-PEPFAR 2024 
•  Evaluating Healthcare Data Collection, Sharing and Use in Botswana. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Global Health Pilot Grant 2020 
• Development of a machine learning-based model for COVID-19 Mortality Prediction in Botswana (2022-2026) 

My contribution to CODATA as an executive member has been largely on advocacy across the African continent on its mission and implementation strategy. This advocacy has led to the establishment of the newly formed Botswana CODATA National Committee which I am currently leading in developing its own strategy. I therefore wish to continue to serve to see to the end of this strategy and how it can be reused by other countries  who have yet to establish their national committee across the continent.

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 17-18 October 2025. Lauren Maxwell is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. She was nominated by the Research Data Alliance.

My name is Lauren Maxwell, and I am an epidemiologist and mixed methods researcher. I am very thankful to have been nominated alongside such a fantastic group of data reuse advocates and innovators.

My work focuses on understanding and enabling data and sample reuse in the research response to emerging pathogens through investments in training and tooling for interoperability of data and metadata, understanding and addressing ethical, legal, social, and institutional (ELSI) barriers to data and sample reuse, and building better systems metadata to improve implementation decisions and enable federated, mulitmodal data reuse for health research and care data and across health data commons.

I lead the FAIR and equitable data and sample reuse research group at Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg in Germany and work packages or tasks in the EU-funded CONTAGIO, CoMeCT and BE READY Pandemic Preparedness Consortia on behalf of Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg andEcraid Foundation in the Netherlands. I serve as an Ethics Review Committee member for the Human Cell Atlas and as a member of the EOSC Health Data Interoperability Task Force. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I led a series of workshops on behalf of the European Commission to build FAIR data for COVID-19 and supported work by the GloPID-R and CERCLE data reuse working groups. I have been engaged with CODATA since 2020, when I initiated the CODATA Health Data Working Group. I have continued that work with RDA as the co-chair of the jointCODATA-RDA Health Data Commons Working Group, where we are working to extend the Global Open Research Commons metadata model into the sensitive biomedical data domain to build the metadata needed to support a living map of implementation decisions across health data commons and between health data and commons in other domains. I also co-chair theTechnical Repository Service Providers Working Group with RDA where we are working to address barriers to repository certification to help researchers make sense of the rapidly evolving and consequential research data repository landscape. I was a co-author of the CODATA Cross Domain Interoperability Framework (CDIF) and am committed to supporting its implementation in the biomedical data space.

I am excited to have been nominated to the CODATA Executive Committee because of the need to link CODATA’s actions to support federated, cross-domain reuse of multimodal data and to build the linkages between humans, data, and humans and data to improvements in the pandemic preparedness landscape.  We don’t have time to clean up our act during a pandemic.  We need to do that beforehand, and we need to learn from domains outside of health, such as oceans, biodiversity, deep earth, and chemistry, as well as within health, including cancer, cardiology, rare diseases, and brain health, to get there.

We need to improve data and sample reuse for more effective detection and response to epidemics.  COVID-19 was both a failure and a triumph of data reuse. Fear around the consequences of data sharing was a key cause of the epidemic. Rapid global sharing of viral sequence data was a key enabler of resolving the pandemic. When we look at the production of research evidence in the wake of COVID-19, we can see how prior investments in the interoperability of health system data led to rapid, high-quality evidence production.  My goal is to work with CODATA to produce cross-domain, cross-infrastructure metadata to demonstrate how different approaches to data reuse enable or prevent value production for the different stakeholders in the funding-to-impact data lifecycle so we can drive informed data policies and investments for epidemic detection and response.

We need data sovereignty and value-driven approaches to incentivising investment in data quality and reuse. With full interoperability and high-quality data and metadata, including a functional PID system, we can reuse data where it sits through federated learning. As a privacy-by-design approach, federated data reuse empowers data holders by placing decision-making power in their hands, addressing some ELSI barriers to data reuse, and reducing both time and carbon footprint compared to centralised approaches. Data reuse has to drive value for data producers to be sustainable. We need to support efforts to build end-to-end value chains that enable local communities and nations to derive value from the data they produce to support federated reuse of high-quality, interoperable data at scale. My goal is to use the CODATA network to support efforts to connect individuals, data, and infrastructure investments to build transformative value for data producers through data interoperability and quality.

We need federated, actionable metadata to demonstrate and improve implementation decisions by the digital public infrastructures that support data reuse. Understanding how infrastructures and approaches, like interoperability-as-infrastructure, drive costs, cost savings, benefits and harms is central for improving cross-domain data reuse.  I want to work with the CODATA community to build the actionable, transparent, trusted metadata we need to create a learning system for understanding how data and sample reuse translates into impact and for whom to inform strategies for building equity and inclusion in data reuse.

We need cross-domain data reuse to address our shared, global challenges. Human health data is linked to data from every other domain we can think of.  Barriers to reusing climate dataprevent us from optimising malaria treatment and prevention efforts, a lack of data on plant health leads to missed opportunities to address the effects of aflatoxin exposure in agricultural workers. I hope to support CDIF’s implementation as a building block for Whole of (Global) Society systems metadata-driven approaches to understanding and addressing the cross-domain challenges that drive human health, including climate change, environmental exposures, and One Health.

Lastly, we need actionable tooling and training to support interoperability and inclusive, equitable approaches to biomedical and cross-domain data and sample reuse. I am committed to supporting CODATA’s efforts to train the next generation of data production, management, policymaking, and data governance experts and to develop the tooling they need to make their jobs easier.

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 17-18 October 2025. Francisca Oladipo is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. She was nominated by the GO FAIR Foundation.

Professor Francisca Oladipo is Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Adewumi University, Kwara State, Nigeria, and Professor of Computer Science at Federal University Lokoja. She serves as Secretary-General of the Consortium of Universities in Kwara State (KU8+) and Vice-President and Board Secretary of VODAN (Value-driven Ownership of Data and Accessibility Network), a leading international network spanning Africa, Europe, and Asia dedicated to developing Afrocentric systems that ensure data sovereignty and ownership in residence.

Bridging the Global Data Divide: An African Perspective

I am honoured to stand for election to the CODATA Executive Committee at a pivotal moment for global data science. As CODATA’s mission emphasizes connecting data and people to advance science and improve our world, my candidacy represents a critical opportunity to ensure that Africa’s voice and the perspectives of the Global South are not merely present, but influential in shaping international data policy and practice.

The data revolution cannot truly be global if it does not include the majority of the world’s population. Africa is poised to host 60% of the world’s youth population by 2050. Hosting some of the most dynamic health, climate, and demographic datasets, the continent must move from being a data source to being a data leader. My work demonstrates that when we design data systems for African contexts, we create solutions the world adopts.

Proven Leadership in FAIR Data Implementation

Between 2020 and 2024, I was the Executive Coordinator of the African Implementation Network of the Virus Outbreak Data Network (VODAN-Africa), which one of the joint activities carried out by CODATA, RDA, WDS, and GO FAIR, where I led what became the world’s first and only successful implementation of machine-actionable FAIR Data Points in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was not theoretical work, but my team actually demonstrated data visiting between Africa and Europe (Leiden) in 2020. Post-COVID, we deployed functional FAIR infrastructure across 88 health facilities in 8 African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Liberia) and the Netherlands (https://aun.mu.edu.et/vodan/). In 2024, VODAN Africa rebranded to Value-driven Ownership of Data and Accessibility Network with my appointment as Vice-President and Secretary of the Board, and in 2025, I was announced the CEO with further expansion into Tanzania, Somalia, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Namibia, Rwanda, China, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan.

This initiative, recognized in UNESCO’s 2021 Engineering Report and awarded “Most Inspiring Initiative” at Leiden Science Week in May 2022, demonstrates three critical points relevant to CODATA’s mission:

1. FAIR principles can be successfully implemented in resource-constrained environments when designed with local contexts in mind
2. African leadership in data infrastructure development produces globally relevant solutions
3. Cross-border, cross-continental data collaboration is achievable when built on principles of equity and data sovereignty

Further Proven work in FAIR Data Leadership

In 2024 (22 – 26 January 2024), @Lorentz Center@Oort in Leiden University, The Netherlands, Barend Mons, Erik Schultes and I, organised “The Road to FAIR and Equitable Science” workshop. We brough together 55 experts and stakeholders to have a broad, international expert discussion regarding the impact of the FAIR principles (Lorentz, 2014) during the first decade of implementation and to collectively design a roadmap for the next decade. Between August 18-27 August of the same year, we brought over 30 African Scientists and Researchers to Leiden University Medical Centre for the 2024 LUMC Fair Data Training.

These achievements directly align with CODATA’s Strategic Plan 2023-2027 priorities, particularly “Making Data Work for Cross-Domain Grand Challenges” and advancing FAIR data practices for trustworthy, equitable, and transparent science.

Transformative Institutional Leadership

My leadership at Thomas Adewumi University, Nigeria demonstrates the transformative power of data-driven decision making in higher education. Between 2022 and 2025, we achieved:

• 2,136% enrolment growth (from 66 to 2,676 students)
• Dramatic improvement in global rankings (from #252 to #47 in Nigeria on Webometrics)
• Over $500,000 in international research grants from Google, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, TETFund, and Philips Foundation
• Establishment of 14 specialized research centers including AI-integrated learning ecosystems and FAIR data infrastructure

This transformation was built on the same principles that guide CODATA: making data work for institutional improvement, building data literacy and skills, and creating sustainable data ecosystems that serve broader societal goals.

Building Data Capacity Across Africa

Capacity building for Open Science and FAIR data is at the heart of CODATA’s mission. My work in this area spans multiple dimensions:

Curriculum Development: I have led the development of data stewardship curricula adopted across African institutions, directly contributing to CODATA’s priority of building capacity for trustworthy, equitable, and transparent science through improved data skills and education.

International Collaboration: As PhD advisor at Tilburg University’s Network for Globalization, Accessibility, Innovation and Care (GAIC), I promote partnerships between the Africa University Network for FAIR Open Science and European universities, fostering the South-South and South-North collaborations essential to CODATA’s global mission.

Training and Mentorship: Through my roles facilitating workshops, including hosting the Deep Learning IndabaX Africa, the ExploreCSR Series, The HERtificial Intelligence Bootcamps, Women in AI Sessions, the Pan-Africa Center for AI Ethics Summer School, and organizing multiple international conferences, I have directly trained hundreds of early-career researchers in data science and FAIR principles.

Global Recognition and Networks

My international profile and networks position me to effectively represent diverse perspectives on the CODATA Executive Committee:

• Heidelberg Laureate Fellow (Germany, 2017)
• US Department of State TechWomen Emerging Leader (Google, California, 2016)
• 3× ACM Fairness, Accountability and Transparency Fellow (2019, 2020, 2024)
• MIT PostDoctoral Fellow (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014)
• Multiple time recipient of the Emerging Scholar Award (only African recipient, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain (2024), Universidad Abierta Interamericana, Buenos Aires (2024), National Changhua University of education, Taiwan (2025))
• Faculty Scholar, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing
• Grantee: Women in AI, Black in AI, Women of Colour in Computing, Widening Natural Language Processing
• Fellow of Pan-African Scientific Research Council, African Scientists Institute, British Computer Society, and Nigeria Computer Society

These fellowships and my participation in global forums like IETF, Grace Hopper Celebration, Machine Learning Summer Schools, and UNESCO workshops have provided me deep understanding of international data science ecosystems and the critical importance of inclusive global data governance.

Research Excellence and Publication Record

With over 100 peer-reviewed publications and service on 10+ international journal editorial boards, my research contributions span the full spectrum of CODATA’s interests:

• 25+ papers on FAIR data management and FAIR principles published in Data Intelligence and leading conferences
• Pioneering work on machine learning, AI ethics, natural language processing for African languages
• Studies on data quality, interoperability, and ethical AI which directly aligned with CODATA’s Data Ethics Task Group priorities
• Research on curriculum development for data science education in emerging economies

What I Bring to CODATA

If elected to the Executive Committee, I will contribute:

1. Authentic Global South Perspective

Not as a token voice, but as a proven leader who has successfully implemented international data initiatives in African contexts. I understand both the challenges and the immense opportunities of extending CODATA’s reach across diverse economic and technological landscapes.

2. Practical Implementation Experience

Beyond policy documents and strategic plans, I have hands-on experience deploying FAIR infrastructure, building data literacy programs, and creating sustainable data ecosystems in resource-constrained environments. This practical knowledge is invaluable for CODATA’s mission to connect data and people.

3. Bridge-Building Capacity

My roles spanning African, European, and North American institutions position me to facilitate the South-North and South-South collaborations essential to CODATA’s global mission. I can help ensure that CODATA’s strategic priorities resonate across diverse contexts.

4. Focus on Equity and Inclusion

My work consistently emphasizes that Open Science and FAIR data must be truly open, not just technically accessible, but equitable, culturally appropriate, and respectful of data sovereignty. This aligns with CODATA’s commitment to trustworthy, equitable, and transparent science.

5. Youth and Innovation Champion

As Vice-Chancellor of a rapidly growing university and mentor to hundreds of early-career researchers, I bring insights into how we can better engage the next generation of data scientists and ensure CODATA remains relevant to emerging leaders.

Vision for CODATA’s Future

CODATA stands at a critical juncture. The data challenges of our time (from pandemic response to climate action, from AI ethics to digital sovereignty) demand that we move beyond traditional power structures and genuinely globalize data governance.

I envision a CODATA that:

• Actively works to decolonize data science by ensuring African and Global South innovations inform global standards, not just adopt them
• Prioritizes implementation support for FAIR principles in diverse contexts, not just advocacy
• Strengthens connections between CODATA’s strategic priorities and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
• Builds robust South-South collaboration networks that complement North-South partnerships
• Champions data sovereignty alongside data sharing, recognizing these as complementary rather than contradictory goals

Commitment to CODATA’s Mission

I am deeply committed to CODATA’s mission of connecting data and people to advance science and improve our world. My track record demonstrates that I do not just articulate vision, I deliver results. From the over 88 health facilities running FAIR Data Points across Africa, to the 2,676 students now studying at Thomas Adewumi University with AI-integrated curricula, to the hundreds of early-career researchers I have mentored, my work has consistently transformed aspiration into achievement.

The challenges facing global science require diverse perspectives, practical expertise, and proven leadership. I offer all three, grounded in a commitment to equity, excellence, and the transformative power of open, FAIR data.

I respectfully ask for your support in this election, not as a favour to African representation, but as an investment in CODATA’s future relevance and impact across all regions of our interconnected world.

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 17-18 October 2025. Mark Musen is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by the USA.

The essence of science is data, and “data science” is naturally central to science.  Most scientists, however, view data science as the analysis of data—without consideration of where the data come from, how they are managed, and how they are communicated.  CODATA consequently faces challenges educating the scientific community about the full spectrum of data science, and about the enormously important role that such an international organization can play in enhancing data infrastructure at a global scale.  

I am honored to be nominated for a position on the CODATA executive committee, and I am excited about the opportunities to which I hope to be able to contribute.  I am a senior faculty member at Stanford University, where I serve as Director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research.  I am an M.D. who has deep understanding of clinical data management.  I am a Ph.D. who has considerable experience in the management of laboratory data.  My work is well respected.  I am a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and I have received two honorary doctoral degrees from European universities.  I have served as a member of the U.S. National Committee for CODATA since 2021.

My entire career has focused on data.  Early on, I studied how AI could be used to aid the design and execution of research protocols, improving the reproducibility of research and the completeness of data collection.  I then led the development of what, after nearly four decades, is still the most widely used open-source technology for creating standard terminologies and scientific ontologies for data annotation (Protégé), and the most widely used open technology for archiving and disseminating such resources (BioPortal).  BioPortal has become the foundation of a growing international consortium to create federated, discipline-specific repositories for terminological standards (the OntoPortal Alliance).  My team has also created the CEDAR Workbench, which is increasingly used to author standards-adherent, descriptive metadata to ensure that datasets are FAIR.

Thus, although I am an academic, I am not satisfied teaching classes and publishing papers. I believe that it is essential to build tools and other infrastructure that people actually can use.  Similarly, I believe that CODATA needs to do much more than to educate the global community about data science.  CODATA needs to stimulate the development of new technologies and data standards that can enhance data stewardship and data sharing on a global basis—and thus enhance scholarship of all kinds in very pragmatic ways.

Although the creation of technology to ease the development and application of data and metadata standards is central to my professional work, I am sensitive to the notion that different communities have different requirements.  Indeed, I believe that CODATA should play a role in working with a wide range of constituencies to help them to fashion their own discipline-specific approaches and standards.  For example, I have worked with the VODAN project for FAIR data management in Africa and I was asked by the National Institutes of Health to guide its Tribal Data Repository initiative to study data-governance requirements among Indigenous peoples in the United States.  I’ve thus come to appreciate first-hand many of the challenges of encouraging data sharing while ensuring appropriate data sovereignty and attention to the CARE principles. 

CODATA is not just about “data.”  CODATA touches nearly every aspect of research and scholarship, with the ability to influence best practices for data acquisition, data stewardship, data management, and data dissemination through training, standards, and technology.  I have experience in all these areas, and I would enjoy the opportunity to build bridges across different scholarly communities, helping CODATA to advance research practices internationally through increasing attention to “data science” in the broadest sense.

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 17-18 October 2025. Rodrigo Roa is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by Chile.

Rodrigo Roa: Candidacy for CODATA Executive Committee

My professional path bridges law, science policy, and data governance. As Executive Director of the Data Observatory, a public–private foundation co-founded by the Government of Chile, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Adolfo Ibáñez University, I lead initiatives that transform large and complex datasets into public value.

My work is grounded in building infrastructures that make data usable, trusted, and interoperable. Under my direction, the Data Observatory recently developed Chile’s National FAIR Data Policy, approved by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID). To put these principles into practice, we created the SURDATA Alliance, a Latin American network for interoperability and data governance that connects public agencies, universities, and research centers.

I also serve on the Strategic Committee of LatamGPT, a large-language-model initiative led by the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA). There, we are developing regional datasets and computing infrastructure to ensure that artificial intelligence in Latin America reflects our languages, contexts, and values.

This year, I had the privilege of convening the first CODATA Committee in Latin America, a step that symbolizes our commitment to make global data collaboration multilingual and inclusive. Science and data know no borders, and language should never be a barrier. My goal is to help emerging economies implement FAIR principles, and to connect CODATA more closely with governments, academia, and industry across the region.

Beyond data policy, I’m also a professional drummer—a lifelong rock musician who believes rhythm is another form of connection. Music, like data, is a universal language that brings people together. I hope to bring a bit of that Latin American rhythm and collaborative spirit to CODATA’s global mission.

It would be an honour to serve on the Executive Committee, to represent Latin America’s growing data community, and to help CODATA’s work resonate from Santiago and beyond.

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 17-18 October 2025. Pam Maras is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. She was nominated by the International Union of Psychological Science.

Pam Maras PhD, CPsychol FBPS, CSci

I am delighted to be nominated by the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) as a nominee for a second term as an ordinary member of CODATA Executive Committee 

IUPsyS is a full and active member of the International Science Council (ISC), and is the global body for psychology and is unique in its convening power. Over two million  psychologists are represented by IUPsyS national and regional members, all of whom use and/or collect data. I was elected the first female President of IUPsyS 2018-2022 and currently serve as Past President on its Executive Committee. My time working with IUPsyS, has included work on capacity building across regions, publications and communications, responses to public issues and more widely IUPsyS responses to disaster and other humanitarian situations. 

In this short statement, I have briefly outlined my background, philosophy and potential contribution to CODATA.

BACKGROUND

Academic/Professional background

I am a Chartered Scientist, Chartered Psychologist and Fellow of the British Psychological Society. I am Emerita Professor of Social and Educational Psychology at University of Greenwich, London where I held senior and national roles including Director of Research and Enterprise and Chair of an  independent committee for research integrity and ethics. 

Research

Initially an experimental social psychologist, my research activity for the last 15 years has mainly been on the application of psychological science  in education including on the cross cultural relevance of psychometric tests and interventions for adolescents with behaviour problems and large cross national studies in Africa, Asia, China, Europe, Latin America and New Zealand as well as interdisciplinary collaborative projects including with engineers for example, on the involvement of young people in STEM subjects at University; computer scientists for example on  gender; climate scientists for example, on behaviour following interventions  to reduce carbon in domestic situations; economists for example on young people’s attitudes to money and neuroscientists on AD/HD. I have obtained significant research funding including from the EU and UK Research Councils and Charities including Leverhulme, Nuffield, charity arms of Football Cubs and multinational companies and Government agencies. I have had policy involvement arising from my research and expertise. My publications were  ranked excellent/outstanding in the last UK research assessment exercise. I am currently advising on a global project in eight  geographic areas across continents on interoperability and curation of data and measures of young people’s anti-social behaviour and its impact.

PHILOSOPHY 

I take a principled approach to equality in science; ethical open access and interdisciplinary collaboration is best achieved by cooperation, making high quality data work for cross-domain grand challenges. I am Committed to Open Science and research integrity in all areas of science, including  the Social Sciences. The promotion of data policy and interoperative solutions that ensure rigour and policy for data use, maximises the combined resources of different disciplines and is essential to Science led policy in our current fragile eco/geopolitical world. 

CONTRIBUTION TO CODATA

If re-elected I would expect to continue to engage positively to ensure CODATA meets its mission at the disciplinary, interdisciplinary and public and policy levels.

Disciplinary level

If re-elected I would hope to facilitate the involvement of psychology with CODATA through IUPsyS on projects related to the CODATA mission particular on Cross Domain Challenges; it is here where the involvement of social science disciplines, especially psychology will add value to outcomes. Specific examples include AI and issues including bias, fairness, transparency, accountability, and ethics; interoperability, in particular where data are not “conventional”, and  other data issues that are pertinent to psychology and many other scientific disciplines including replicability and the potential loss of validity unless clear principles are taken on and underpin data across disciplines.

Interdisciplinary level 

The involvement of psychology and other social sciences in CODATA can only add to CODATAs considerable achievements so far. For example, the adoption and use of FAIR principles in social sciences is mixed, this is particularly problematic when interventions and policy comes from the social sciences. Psychology and psychologists including myself are already collaborating with scientists in other areas of basic and applied science and policy. My experience in this area will allow me to further support CODATA in increasing the number of ISC Scientific Unions that engage with CODATA. In my current tern on CODATA I have been involved with setting up the Scientific Unions Forum, I would hope to continue with this activity. 

Public and policy 

My experience and work in developing policy and in behaviour change will allow me to contribute to  CODATA  to maximise the implementation of policy on data. The engagement and ‘buy in’ by those outside the “scientific community” or that are in disciplines not engaged with CODATA could be advanced by simple strategies. For example, via simple Policy Briefs for ‘non-experts,’ in which outcomes are accessible, relevant and useful for public good. 

CONCLUSION

In this brief statement I have summarised my background, my philosophy and a few of the areas where I might serve CODATA. 

In my  current term, as a member of a large Scientific Union, I was one of the few social scientists on the Executive  Committee. It would be a privilege to serve CODATA again and support the continuation of its important work. I look forward to attending International Data Week and meeting colleagues in Brisbane.

This is the fourteenth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at the General Assembly to be held on 17-18 October 2025. Burçak Basbug is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. She was nominated by the Middle East Technical University.

It is an honour and privilege to be nominated to be part of the CODATA Team, who are dedicated to connect people and science to address global challenges!

‘Knowledge grows, when it is shared!’ 

I am very passionate and enthusiastic as a scientist, as a woman, as a mother to provide a safer world to people in need. I strongly believe we, if we unite, can reduce the impacts of any disaster in anywhere in the World. We can create safer communities, safer nations, safer Globe for the humanity. It is our responsibility to leave a better World to our children, grandchildren, grand grandchildren… and for all of us!

On my current role, I work a Professor of Statistics and Disaster Science, at the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara-Türkiye. I graduated from METU Department of Statistics in June 1999. My appointment to academia as a research and teaching assistant is 16 August 1999, which is the day before the devastating 17 August 1999 Marmara earthquake.  So, it was meant for me to work in disaster statistics. Since then, I have been working hard to understand disaster related data, use it to generate strong policies so that we can reduce disaster risks. 

In 2000, I moved to the UK to persuade my graduate studies at the University of Warwick (MSc.in Statistics-2001) and London School of Economics and Political Science (Ph.D. in Statistics-2007). I worked under the supervision of the late Emeritus Professor Henry. P. Wynn, who was the president of the Royal Statistical Society UK (https://rss.org.uk/news-publication/news-publications/2024/general-news/henry-philip-wynn,-1945%E2%80%932024/ ). I learnt a lot from him in the World of Statistics. 

I have been teaching, researching and developing for 26 years at international level as well as national level on disaster risk reduction, earthquake insurance, applied statistics, linear models, statistical design of experiments, survey and sampling methods, disaster risk governance. I had opportunity to merge theoretical knowledge with field experience in the following events:

• Covid-19 response in the UK and in Türkiye
• 13 May 2014 Soma Mine Disaster
• 23 October 2011 Van Earthquake in Türkiye
• 2009 Urban Disaster Risk Reduction Training in Japan at Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture in Japan, then follow-up visits in 2011 and 2015.
• Syrian Refugee Response Evaluation of UNICEF 2015
• August 2020 Giresun Flood in the Black Sea Coast of Türkiye
• 30 October 2020 Earthquake in Izmir as a result of the Sisam Fault Rupture
• 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaras Earthquakes 

I was the project coordinator of the Turkish Disaster Data Bank (TABB in Turkish acronym) between 2012 and 2014. I worked as the Course Director of MSc Disaster Management and Resilience at Coventry University-UK between 2019 and 2020. Prior to this, I was the Director of the METU Disaster Management Centre between 2008 and 2018.  I am a full member of the Chatham House-UK. I serve as an editorial board member of the ODI journal ‘Disasters’. 

I am a co-chair of the CODATA International Data Policy Committee (IDPC) since 2022 as well as the UNESCO-CODATA Data Policy for Times of Crisis Facilitated by Open Science (DPTC) Toolkit Project. 

I believe in multidisciplinary, multi-hazard approach where theory and practice meet to create disaster resilient individuals, communities, nations and globe. I have experience working with the high-level policy makers at the institutions such as the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and more. 

In years, a lot of people asked me “What is a statistician’s role in disasters?” so many times. I used to respond them ‘You need to make the data talk, explain, tell you some scientific baseline so that you can generate policies to help people live in safer and better conditions, with reduced risks!’

If elected, I will work very hard to contribute the CODATA Team to achieve CODATA’s vision with my networks, experience, willingness to learn and share, research and data skills, energy, dedication, loyalty and passion! Thank you so much! 

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 17-18 October 2025. Leo Lahti is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member. He was nominated by Finland.

Data comes to life through user communities to advance science and improve our world. This principle has guided my data science research and advocacy work for over two decades. As a professor of Data Science at the University of Turku, Finland, I share CODATA’s mission to connect data and people towards these goals.

I earned my doctoral degree at the Department of Information and Computer Science, Aalto University, Finland, in 2010. I have also spent nearly a decade abroad working on data-intensive research in e.g. European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN, European Bioinformatics Institute, and Croatian Meteorological Institute. My research team now focuses on the analysis of complex natural and social systems, and open data science has become fundamental for such research.

At the national level, I have contributed to open science policy work as Vice Chair of Finland’s national coordination on open science. I led the development of the National Policy on Open Access to Research Methods and Infrastructures (2023). I also serve on the board of Open Knowledge Finland, and participated in the Ministry of Justice working group reforming the Public Information Act, focusing on transparency of data and algorithms in a digital society. I received the National Open Science Award (2021) from the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies. This national work parallels many international developments and could inspire and inform related policy development within CODATA.

At the international level, I have participated in global research and training networks, such as the Bioconductor Community Advisory Board, and coordinated international research software development and data science training events as a certified instructor for Data Carpentries, a global network for evidence-based data science pedagogy. Within CODATA, I have led the Finnish national branch since 2022, acted as a liaison for the Data Ethics Task Group and served in the Executive Committee 2023–2025. My work builds on this experience as a data science researcher, educator, and community builder. 

As a member of the CODATA Executive Committee, I will be looking forward to build on these networks and on my experience from the first term. I will particularly focus on the following:

• advance international policy work towards responsible data science standards
• strengthen international training networks on data science 
• expand CODATA’s work and visibility in Northern Europe and globally by developing connections with other relevant networks

Through these and other activities, we can continue to promote the CODATA mission towards open, responsible, and globally connected data science.