Is China ready for Open Data? | Research Data at Springer Nature

"Earlier this year I was honoured to be invited to join the Committee on Data (CODATA) Data Policy Committee and to represent Springer Nature at a ‘High-Level Workshop on Implementing Open Research Data Policy and Practice in China’, which took place 17-18th September 2019. The workshop was followed by CODATA’s annual international research data conference, CODATA 2019 Beijing 'Towards next-generation data-driven science: policies, practices and platforms'. 

Having never visited China before, I was looking forward to experiencing for myself some of the unique culture of China; not only the sights and sounds, but also to learn more about the Chinese approach to research and data. Over the last 5-6 years there has been a major cultural shift in attitudes to research data in many parts of the world, as evidenced by multiple surveys of researcher attitudes to data sharing (here, here and here) and the ever increasing number of data journals and data papers. I was eager to learn what this cultural shift looks like for China-based researchers."