Open For All:
the benefits of open
data in a digital age
Mark Thorley
Natural Environment Research Council
mark.thorley@nerc.ac.uk
@MarkRThorley
My perspective
• I know:
– A fair amount about open
access and research data
management;
– A bit about scholarly
publishing;
– And something about the
challenges of getting research
data out there and used.
Research Councils UK
£3B
www.CODATA.org
CODATA Strategy:
Exploiting the Data Revolution
Exploiting the data revolution is the major priority for
international science.
CODATA strategy lays out three priorities and a plan
that shows we can deliver for ICSU on these
priorities.
Promote intelligently open data
 data policies: supporting implementation of data
principles and practice
Adapt to the transformation in research
 data science: addressing the frontier issues of data
science
Promote data skills, data scientists, data managers
 data education: capacity building (particularly in
LMICs)
New CODATA President
Geoffrey Boulton, FRS
Chair of Science as an
Open
Enterprise Report
New CODATA Executive
Committee elected at
GA in New Delhi, Nov
2014
Why ‘open’ ?
• Public good agenda.
• Research transparency and integrity.
• Expectations of a digital age.
• Data intensive science.
• Support for innovation and growth:
– remove barriers to access;
– get the stuff out there and get it used.
The challenges of research in a
digital age
Life was so much
simpler in the
‘good old days’
Laurentius de Voltolina - Liber ethicorum des Henricus de Alemannia
See: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laurentius_de_Voltolina_001.jpg
Then along came the future .…
• Schumpeterian creative destruction
– The disruptive process of transformation that
accompanies innovation.
• Francis Bacon (1620): comparing the invention of
printing to those of firearms and the nautical
compass
– These three have changed the whole face and state of the world;
first in literature, second in warfare, third in navigation; whence
have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no
sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in
human affairs than these mechanical discoveries
The digital & networked world is a
real game changer
• Expectations and opportunities have changed.
• A world where the expectation is ‘I want it now
and I want it for free’.
• A world where anybody can ‘publish’ anything on
the web.
• A world where people expect to develop services
based on other people’s material.
• A world where experts have to earn trust.
Open is the new normal
• Change in expectation of availability – open will
become the new normality.
• Those who say open is not an issue for them –
risk becoming marginalised, overlooked and
ignored.
• Responsibility of all those involved in the research
process to ensure that definitive, quality assured
research results and data are available to all who
need them when they need them.
Re-use by business & innovators
Flood risk
(www.checkmyfloodrisk.co.uk)
Radon in the cellar
(www.ukradon.org)
Rembrandts in the attic
Data innovation environments
Business led exploitation
What is business looking for?
• Nationally consistent data sets from which
services can be developed:
– Climate, weather, air-quality, soils, land-cover.
• Tend to be data from survey or monitoring
activities, not individual research data sets.
• Need to understand IP restrictions and updates.
• Exploitation value is in data plus expertise:
– Role for knowledge broker / intermediary.
The future
• Open data management becomes part of the
fabric of research practice.
• Those who fund research will need to fund activity
and infrastructure - the ‘well-found-lab’.
• Require intelligent openness and intelligent
management – can’t manage everything for ever.
• Specific support for business and innovation
through ‘data hubs’.
THANK YOU

Open for all – the benefits of open data in a digital age_Thorley

  • 1.
    Open For All: thebenefits of open data in a digital age Mark Thorley Natural Environment Research Council [email protected] @MarkRThorley
  • 2.
    My perspective • Iknow: – A fair amount about open access and research data management; – A bit about scholarly publishing; – And something about the challenges of getting research data out there and used.
  • 3.
  • 4.
  • 5.
    CODATA Strategy: Exploiting theData Revolution Exploiting the data revolution is the major priority for international science. CODATA strategy lays out three priorities and a plan that shows we can deliver for ICSU on these priorities. Promote intelligently open data  data policies: supporting implementation of data principles and practice Adapt to the transformation in research  data science: addressing the frontier issues of data science Promote data skills, data scientists, data managers  data education: capacity building (particularly in LMICs) New CODATA President Geoffrey Boulton, FRS Chair of Science as an Open Enterprise Report New CODATA Executive Committee elected at GA in New Delhi, Nov 2014
  • 6.
    Why ‘open’ ? •Public good agenda. • Research transparency and integrity. • Expectations of a digital age. • Data intensive science. • Support for innovation and growth: – remove barriers to access; – get the stuff out there and get it used.
  • 7.
    The challenges ofresearch in a digital age Life was so much simpler in the ‘good old days’ Laurentius de Voltolina - Liber ethicorum des Henricus de Alemannia See: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laurentius_de_Voltolina_001.jpg
  • 8.
    Then along camethe future .… • Schumpeterian creative destruction – The disruptive process of transformation that accompanies innovation. • Francis Bacon (1620): comparing the invention of printing to those of firearms and the nautical compass – These three have changed the whole face and state of the world; first in literature, second in warfare, third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries
  • 9.
    The digital &networked world is a real game changer • Expectations and opportunities have changed. • A world where the expectation is ‘I want it now and I want it for free’. • A world where anybody can ‘publish’ anything on the web. • A world where people expect to develop services based on other people’s material. • A world where experts have to earn trust.
  • 10.
    Open is thenew normal • Change in expectation of availability – open will become the new normality. • Those who say open is not an issue for them – risk becoming marginalised, overlooked and ignored. • Responsibility of all those involved in the research process to ensure that definitive, quality assured research results and data are available to all who need them when they need them.
  • 11.
    Re-use by business& innovators
  • 12.
  • 13.
    Radon in thecellar (www.ukradon.org)
  • 14.
  • 15.
  • 16.
  • 17.
    What is businesslooking for? • Nationally consistent data sets from which services can be developed: – Climate, weather, air-quality, soils, land-cover. • Tend to be data from survey or monitoring activities, not individual research data sets. • Need to understand IP restrictions and updates. • Exploitation value is in data plus expertise: – Role for knowledge broker / intermediary.
  • 18.
    The future • Opendata management becomes part of the fabric of research practice. • Those who fund research will need to fund activity and infrastructure - the ‘well-found-lab’. • Require intelligent openness and intelligent management – can’t manage everything for ever. • Specific support for business and innovation through ‘data hubs’.
  • 19.