Towards a FAIRer World

Implementing the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science to address global challenges

A Symposium co-organized by UNESCO, International Science Council (ISC) Committee on Data (CODATA) and World Data System (WDS)

UNESCO, Paris & Virtual; Wednesday, 29 March 2023

Introduction to the Symposium

The UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science (2021) provides an international framework for the global transformation of societies towards Open Science. It sets out the fundamental principles of human rights and ethics that define the leading role UNESCO has in ensuring science benefits all by promoting just and equitable access to knowledge and other products of the scientific endeavour. This symposium examines next steps in developing cooperative scientific, digital, and ethics frameworks for implementing the principles and values expressed in the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science while responding to the seven areas of action it sets out.

The need for Open Science to address global challenges, specifically in times of crisis and to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, has been further highlighted by the UNESCO Executive Board at its 215th session in October 2022 and at the third Open Science Conference held at the United Nations Headquarters in February 2023.

The challenge remains as how to best harness the potential of Open Science for the benefit of humanity and how to ensure that the principles and values of Open Science, as defined in the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, are respected. 

The International Science Council, supported by its two data organisations CODATA (the Committee on Data) and WDS (the World Data System), are among the key partners and stakeholders in the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science. They have played a leading role in developing international and multi-stakeholder cooperation by promoting Open Science incentivisation, capacity-building, education, and digital literacy as well as contributing to Open Science infrastructure and services. 

UNESCO, ISC, CODATA and WDS have joined efforts to organise this one-day, hybrid symposium to explore the existing and most recent cooperative scientific, digital, and ethics frameworks for advancing the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science across its Areas of Action, with the focus on: 

• Data Commons for Global Challenges, and 
• Open Science and data policy in times of crisis.

Thematic Session 1: Data Commons for Global Challenges

The major global human, societal, and scientific challenges of our age are fundamentally interdisciplinary and related to all sectors of society. These challenges can only be addressed through the close collaboration of science, civil society, and government using cross-domain and multi-stakeholder research that seeks to understand complex systems, including through machine-assisted analysis at scale. 

The FAIR Principles are key to the success of such research. They enable the efficient and reliable processing of data, contributing directly to a globally shared approach to Open Science by the scientific community and those engaged in the digital transformation of their disciplines and sectors in society. 

This session will explore case studies in which data infrastructures (commons, platforms and clouds) are developed to implement Open Science and the FAIR principles for cross-domain research areas, such as ocean science, biodiversity and disaster risk reduction. Also presented will be the vision of the WorldFAIR Project (funded by the European Commission, coordinated by CODATA), to move from a ‘bibliographic’ approach to data management to a network of FAIR data exchange that better facilitates machine-assisted data combination and analysis.

The emerging network of Open Science ‘commons’ and data exchanges are supported and advanced by the FAIR Principles, which are referenced in the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and foundational to the work of ISC, CODATA and WDS. This session explores how ‘commons’ (Open Science and FAIR data platforms) facilitate the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science by responding to its seven areas of action.

Thematic Session 2: Open Science and Data Policy in Times of Crisis

Science as a global public good should belong to humanity in common and benefit humanity as a whole. To this end, scientific knowledge should be openly available and its benefits universally shared. This is even more relevant in times of crisis caused by health, natural and/or geopolitical disruptions.  Well-developed and documented data policy for crisis situations is of vital importance to support the critical role of science in local, national, regional, and global preparedness and response to significantly disruptive or disaster situations. 

This session will examine the underlying ethical, human rights, and humanitarian frameworks needed to support data policy during crisis situations in an open science context, respecting the FAIR (data stewardship) and CARE (ethical) data governance principles. 

Taking into consideration and learning from the ongoing work by the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), ISC, CODATA, WDS, and others, the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science could be used as a framework for development of principles addressing data policy in times of crisis within Open Science commons. 

The session will also explore data commons pathways that support the development of tools for the responsible practice and use of data when generating scientific evidence in crisis situations.

Recording of the Symposium

Recording of the event is available under CODATA Vimeo at:

Programme

(All times CEST – UTC+2)

09:00-09:30 Arrivals

09:30-10:15 Introduction and welcome

Chair: Christine Kirkpatrick, San Diego Supercomputer Center

• Welcome remarks from the co-organisers: UNESCO, ISC, CODATA and WDS (5 minutes each)
  • UNESCO: Xing Qu, Deputy Director-General, Assistant Director General for Natural Sciences a.i. 
  • ISC: Salvatore Aricò, Chief Executive Officer
  • CODATA: Barend Mons, President
  • WDS: Meredith Goins, Executive Director
• Introduction to the Symposium, Simon Hodson, CODATA
• The pathway to implementing the UNESCO Recommendation on Open, Ana Peršić, Science Policy and Partnerships Section, Division of Science Policy and Capacity Building, UNESCO (slides)
• Global Framework for Open Science in the Face of Pandemics and Other Crises, H.E. Adam Al Mulla, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Kuwait to UNESCO

Thematic Session 1: Data Commons for Global Challenges

10:15-11:00 Open Science and data infrastructures: the challenge to implementing FAIR data into domain and cross-domain commons

Chair: Elena Rovenskaya, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

1. The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC): planet and people, Adrian Burton, Australian Research Data Commons (remote presentation; slides)
2. The African Open Science Platform and pan-African research priorities, Tshiamo Motshegwa, African Open Science Platform (slides)
3. Building pathways across data commons: the WorldFAIR Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework, Simon Hodson and Arofan Gregory, CODATA (slides)

11:00-11:30 Break

11:30-12:30 Building Open Science commons for interoperability across domains and societies

Chair: Ezra Clark, UNESCO

1. Combining remote sensing and in-situ data for the SDGs, Jianhui LI, International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) (slides)
2. The Ocean Data and Information System: foundations of a FAIR digital ocean ecosystem for science and sustainable development, Pier Luigi Buttigieg, Alfred Wegener Institute (remote presentation)
3. The Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections (INSPIRE), Agnes Kiragga, African Population and Health Research Center (remote presentation; slides)
4. Agricultural sciences data challenges, Debora Drucker, Embrapa (slides)

12:30-13:00 Panel and discussion with speakers: What actions are needed to develop and use Open Science data commons when addressing global challenges (in times of crises and beyond) in a fair and equitable way and in line with the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science? 

Moderator: Meredith Goins, World Data System IPO

13:00-14:30 Lunch

Thematic Session 2: Open Science and Data Policy in Times of Crisis

14:30-15:15 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science framing the role of data policy in crisis situations

Chair: Virginia Murray, UK Health Security Agency

Case studies of what data is needed in crisis situations:

1. Lessons learned on the need for data policy in response to Covid-19, Ron Law, Health Emergency Management Bureau Philippines (remote presentation; slides)
2. The current needs for data policy in the response to the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Burcak Basbug Erkan, Middle East Technical University (METU) (slides)
3. Developing data policy for trusted data in data commons frameworks to address health emergencies, natural disasters, and geo-political disruptions, Areeq Chowdhury, The Royal Society (slides)
4. The challenges to data publication in times of crisis, Graham Smith, Springer Nature (slides)

15:15-16:00 Vital frameworks for Open Science commons in crisis situations

Chair: Mark Parsons, Editor-in-Chief of the Data Science Journal

1. Human rights and ethics: Fulfilling the mission of science in the face of crises, Perihan Elif Ekmekci, TOBB University of Economics and Technology (slides)
2. Grounding Indigenous Rights into Open Data: The CARE Principles as a Framework for People Directed Data Needs, Lydia Jennings, The University of Arizona (remote presentation; slides)
3. In times of crises use UNDRR/ISC Hazard Information Profiles,  Virginia Murray, Executive Committee Member, CODATA; UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (slides)

16:00-16:15 Break

16:15-16:45

Chair: Megha Sud, International Science Council 

Principles and good practices for OS commons, towards a policy brief (event statement shared and discussed with the attendees), Simon Hodson, CODATA

Principles for data policy during times of crisis framed in open science (concept paper shared and discussed with the attendees), Francis P. Crawley, International Data Policy Committee (IDPC), CODATA (slides)

16:45-17:30 Summary and next steps: Implementing the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science to ensure a FAIRer World that CARES when addressing global challenges

Chair: Simon Hodson, CODATA

• Panelists: 
  • UNESCO:Ana Peršić, UNESCO
  • ISC: Mathieu Denis, ISC Centre for Science Futures
  • WDS: Meredith Goins, World Data System IPO
• Feedback from the room.  
• Closing remarks.

17:30-19:00 Close of the Symposium followed by a Reception

 

Please note that the above programme is subject to change. Kindly consult this webpage closer to the Symposium date to check the final agenda.