Commission launches pilot to open up publicly funded research data | European Public Sector Information Platform

"Valuable information and data produced by researchers in many EU-funded projects will be shared freely as a result of a Pilot on Open Research Data in Horizon 2020.  Open access can be defined as the practice of providing on-line access to scientific information and that is free of charge to the end-user and that is re-usable.  Open access to research data refers to the right to access and re-use digital research data, in particular facts or numbers collected, under the terms and conditions set out in the Grant Agreement. Openly accessible research data can typically be accessed, mined, exploited, reproduced and disseminated free of charge for the user. The European Commission's vision is that information and data already paid for by the public purse should not be paid for again each time it is accessed or used, and that it should benefit European companies and citizens to the full. The Pilot involves key areas of Horizon 2020 and projects may opt out of the pilot to allow for the protection of intellectual property or personal data; in view of security concerns; or should the main objective of their research be compromised by making data openly accessible. You can read more about it in this press release."