Open Data: Crediting a Culture of Cooperation

Abstract

Although the question of who pays for open data is important (“Who will pay for public access to research data?”, F. Berman and V. Cerf, Policy Forum, 9 August, p. [616][1]), a greater challenge lies in implementing the institutional and cultural changes required before data from government-sponsored research can be openly shared. The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has ordered U.S. federal agencies to formulate plans to share federally funded science data ([ 1 ][2]). This reflects a fundamental shift in the social contract between scientists and society. While seeking to strengthen science, the order also seeks better use of data to promote economic innovation, improve cross-disciplinary efforts, and address “grand challenge” societal problems such as global climate change and urban violence. The OSTP memo correctly notes that public availability of atmospheric data enabled commercial weather services and severe weather prediction. Yet many data, tools, and models in the geosciences are held by a mix of individual investigators, national data centers, university-based initiatives, and commercial labs, embedded in institutional arrangements that actively reward holding onto data and maximizing individual outcomes in a competitive environment. NSF's EarthCube project, a long-term strategic initiative to build the cyber infrastructure for integrating data, tools, and models in the geosciences, illustrates the challenges and benefits of community engagement and institutional alignment ([ 2 ][3]). The push for open data goes beyond the question of who pays. It challenges science to create a more cooperative culture that aligns credit and rewards with sharing data, tools, and models. 1. [↵][4] OSTP, Expanding Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research ([www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/expanding-public-access-results-federally-funded-research][5]). 2. [↵][6] EarthCube ([www.earthcube.org][7]). [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1241625 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [5]: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/expanding-public-access-results-federally-funded-research [6]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [7]: http://www.earthcube.org