{"id":3120,"date":"2025-10-14T03:42:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T03:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/codata.org\/blog\/?p=3120"},"modified":"2025-10-14T03:42:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T03:42:56","slug":"leo-lahti-candidacy-for-codata-executive-committee-ordinary-member-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/codata.org\/blog\/2025\/10\/14\/leo-lahti-candidacy-for-codata-executive-committee-ordinary-member-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Leo Lahti: Candidacy for CODATA Executive Committee Ordinary Member"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This is the thirteenth in the series of short statements from candidates in the coming CODATA Elections at <\/span><\/i>the General Assembly to be held on 17-18 October 2025<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Leo Lahti is a candidate for the CODATA Executive Committee as an Ordinary Member.<\/span><\/i> He was nominated by Finland<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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\u2019s mission to connect data and people towards these goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/span>research team<\/span><\/a> now focuses on the analysis of complex natural and social systems, and open data science has become fundamental for such research.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the national level, I have contributed to open science policy work as <\/span>Vice Chair of Finland\u2019s <\/b>national coordination on open science<\/b><\/a>. I led the development of the <\/span>National Policy on Open Access to Research Methods and Infrastructures<\/b><\/a> (2023).<\/b> I also serve on the board of <\/span>Open Knowledge Finland<\/b><\/a>, and participated in the <\/span>Ministry of Justice<\/b> working group reforming the <\/span>Public Information Act<\/span><\/i>, focusing on transparency of data and algorithms in a digital society. I received the <\/span>National Open Science Award (2021)<\/b> from the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies. This national work parallels many international developments and could inspire and inform related policy development within CODATA.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the international level, I have participated in global research and training networks, such as the<\/span> Bioconductor Community Advisory Board<\/b><\/a>, and coordinated international research software development and data science training events as a certified<\/span> instructor for <\/span>Data Carpentries<\/b><\/a>, a global network for evidence-based data science pedagogy. Within CODATA, I have led the <\/span>Finnish national branch <\/b>since 2022, acted as a liaison for the <\/span>Data Ethics Task Group<\/b><\/a> and served in the <\/span>Executive Committee 2023\u20132025<\/b>. My work builds on this experience as a data science researcher, educator, and community builder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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:<\/span><\/p>\n