The Evolving US policy environment for research data
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The Evolving U.S. Policy Environment for Open Research Data Heather Joseph Executive Director, SPARC NFAIS Annual Conference
Transcript of The Evolving US policy environment for research data
TheEvolvingU.S.PolicyEnvironmentforOpenResearchData
Heather Joseph Executive Director, SPARC NFAIS Annual Conference
1.PolicyDrivers
Fundersinvesttensofbillionsofdollarsannuallyonbasicandappliedscien@ficresearch.
~$60billion/yr.inU.S.publicly-fundedresearchalone.
• S@mulatenewideas• Acceleratescien@ficdiscovery• Improveeduca@onaloutcomes• Fuelinnova@on• Growtheeconomy/createjobs• Improvethewelfareofthe
public
Thiscanonlyhappenifwecanfreelyaccessandfullyusethe
outputsofthisresearch.
Workingtheoryisthatpoliciesthatencourageopenaccesstotheresultsofthisresearch–includingdata-willaccelerateandsignificantlyimprovethese
outcomes.
Andthecommunityatlargeincreasinglyseesaddi@onalbenefits
toopeningupresearchdata:
• Improvereproducibility• Encourageaddi@onalproduc@ve
useofdata• Prevent/improveresponseto
crises(Zika,earthquakes,etc.)• Enablelarge-scalecollabora@ons• Improvetransparency/
accountability
2.PolicyPrecedent/Development
KeySourcesofU.S.Informa=onPolicy
• FreedomofInforma@onAct,1966• CopyrightAct,1976• PaperworkReduc@onAct,1980• OfficeofManagementandBudget(OMB)CircularNo.A-130,1985
• ElectronicFOIAAmendments,1996
“…Governmentinforma/onisavaluablena/onalresource,andtheeconomicbenefitstosocietyaremaximizedwhengovernmentinforma/onisavailableina/melyandequitablemannertoall.”
-OMBCircularA-130
“Openandunrestrictedaccesstopublicinforma/onatno
morethanthecostofdissemina/on..”
-OMBCircularA-130
KeySourcesofU.S.Informa=onPolicy
• PaperworkElimina@onAct,2003• OpenGovernmentDirec@ve,2009• OpenDataExecu@veOrder,2013• PublicAccesstoFederallyFundedResearchOutputsDirec@ve,2013
WhiteHousePublicAccessDirec@ve
Direc@verequires“digitallyformaeedscien@ficdataresul@ng
fromunclassifiedresearchsupported…byFederalfundingtobestoredandpubliclyaccessibletosearch,retrieve,andanalyze…”
Direc@ontoAgencies“MaximizeAccesstoData”WhileS@ll:
• Protec@ngconfiden@alityandpersonalprivacy;
• Recognizingproprietaryinterests,businessconfiden@alinforma@onandIPrights;
• Balancingvalueoflong-termpreserva@on&accesswithcostsandadministra@veburdens.
And,ohyes–pleasedothisallwithinexis@ngbudgets.
(Fast)Forward3Years…
3.ResearchDataPoliciesAreEmerging
AsofFebruary2016,dralorfinalpolicyplansforaccesstoresearch
data(andar@cles)havebeenreleasedby14ofthe19U.S.
scienceagencies
Evolu@onaryprocess,ongoingCommunityinvolvementabsolutely
necessary.NOTa“one-and-done”policy
dralingprocess.
WHDirec@veprovidedsomeguidance,butallplansdiffersomewhatininterpreta@onof
guidelinesaswellasimplementa@onprocesses.
• RequireDataManagementPlans;• Providedirec@onforapproved
loca@onsfordatadeposit/storage;• Acknowledgeneedforrou@ne
aeribu@onfordata;• Requiredatainventories&indices;• Supportpublic/privatecollabora@on• Recognizeneedforlong-term
preserva@on
However:Thereisnotyetacommonsetofstandardsforany
ofthesepolicycomponents.
Example:WhileallagenciesrequireDataManagementPlansatfundingproposalstage;wedon’thaveacommonsetof
aeributes/expecta@onsfortheseplans.
Tobeexpected;butmakespolicydevelopmentmorelaborintensive–forfundersandandfunding
recipients.Policydevelopmentishard,andcomplianceistoo.
Thismightbeinterpretedbysomeasasignalthatmoregranular
direc@onisneeded(i.e.,viamoreprescrip@velegisla@on).
Fluidpoli@calclimateinpresiden@alelec@onyearalso
poseschallenges…
4.Whatcanwedotokeepthingsmovinginrightdirec=on?
Reitera@ngnecessityofevolu@onarypolicydevelopmentprocesstoproduceeffec@ve
researchdatapoliciesindifferentdisciplinesisimportant.
Consistentpolicycomponenttracking,regularcommunityinput(fromresearchersandins@tu@ons),
andongoinginteragencycollabora@onisalsovital.
Collabora@onwithcommunitywillbehelpfulinpromo@ng(a
reasonable)levelofstandardiza@ontofacilitatesmoothercomplianceprocess.
“Harmonizing”policycomponentswherepossibletoreduce
opera@ngfric@onwherepossibleiskeysharedgoal.
Communitycollabora@oncanalsobehelpfulindevelopingadvocacyforaddi@onalinvestmentsin
infrastructureneededtosupportaccesstoanduseofresearchdata.
Cannotbuildaneffec@ve,sustainableinfrastructuretosupportvitalna@onal/publicinterestswithoutaddi@onal
investment.
OpenResearchDataisNowaPriority.
Thankyouforlistening.
Heather Joseph Executive Director, SPARC 21 Dupont Circle, Washington, DC 20009 [email protected] www.sparcopen.org
