Monday 7 September 2015

RC UK's consultation on 'Concordat on Open Data'

RCUK is seeking feedback on their new draft ‘Concordat On Open Research Data’. The text and contextual information is available. Feedback and comments should be sent to OpenData@rcuk.ac.uk by 28 September 2015.

The draft concordat has been developed under the auspices of the UK Open Research Data Forum by a multi-stakeholder working group, which includes RCUK, JISC, the Wellcome Trust and Universities UK. The concordat aims to help to ensure that the research data gathered and generated by members of the UK research community is made openly available for use by others wherever possible in a manner consistent with relevant legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks and norms.

Most of the principles are uncontroversial.   For example:    Principle #1 Open access to research data is an enabler of high quality research, a facilitator of innovation and safeguards good research practice. 

Principle #9 is challenging - Support for the development of appropriate data skills is recognised as a responsibility for all stakeholders.  There are clear resource consequences.

EPSRC and ESRC policies specify data underpinning publications, but the Concordat appears to refer to all data produced by research. 

"The intention [of the Concordat] is to establish sound principles which respect the needs of all parties. It is not the intention to mandate, codify or require specific activities, but to establish a set of expectations of good practice with the intention of establishing open research data as the desired position for publicly-funded research over the long-term."   The question, therefore, is how will the Condorat be used to ensure open data are openly available - what will make it more than a generic statement of intent?
 


No comments: