The Value of Open Data Sharing

"The Members and Participating Organizations of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) make their Earth observation and environmental data available through the GEO Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS) portal. The preferred approach of the organization is to provide open access and unrestricted use to those data through the GEOSS Data-CORE (Collection of Open Resources for Everyone). This approach has not been adopted by all the GEO participants, despite the call for even greater openness that is promoted by the revised GEO Data Sharing Principles for next decade. The Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA), a non-governmental Participating Organization of GEO, analyzed and synthesized the existing work on the various benefits and value of open data, with particular reference to Earth observation data made available through GEOSS. The mission of CODATA is “to strengthen international science for the benefit of society by improving scientific and technical data management and use.” CODATA is an interdisciplinary committee of the non-governmental International Council for Science (ICSU) in Paris, France. Both CODATA and ICSU are Participating Organizations of GEO. Simon Hodson is the Executive Director of CODATA and the manager of this project. Additional information about CODATA may be found on its website at: www.codata.org. The report was produced by CODATA specifically at the request of the GEO Secretariat in order to summarise arguments in favour of broad and open data sharing, and to present these to the 2015 GEO Plenary in Mexico. The short timescale for its production meant that it was not possible for the report to go through a formal review process with DSWG. However, DSWG colleagues were consulted and commented on the draft at a number of stages. DSWG acknowledges the merits of the report as an articulation of the value of data sharing and therefore is in favour of the report being presented to the Plenary for information...."