the evolving us policy environment for research data

TheEvolvingU.S.PolicyEnvironmentforOpenResearchData

Heather Joseph Executive Director, SPARC NFAIS Annual Conference

1.PolicyDrivers

Fundersinvesttensofbillionsofdollarsannuallyonbasicandappliedscien@ficresearch.

~$60billion/yr.inU.S.publicly-fundedresearchalone.

•  S@mulatenewideas•  Acceleratescien@ficdiscovery•  Improveeduca@onaloutcomes•  Fuelinnova@on•  Growtheeconomy/createjobs•  Improvethewelfareofthe

public

Thiscanonlyhappenifwecanfreelyaccessandfullyusethe

outputsofthisresearch.

Workingtheoryisthatpoliciesthatencourageopenaccesstotheresultsofthisresearch–includingdata-willaccelerateandsignificantlyimprovethese

outcomes.

Andthecommunityatlargeincreasinglyseesaddi@onalbenefits

toopeningupresearchdata:

•  Improvereproducibility•  Encourageaddi@onalproduc@ve

useofdata•  Prevent/improveresponseto

crises(Zika,earthquakes,etc.)•  Enablelarge-scalecollabora@ons•  Improvetransparency/

accountability

2.PolicyPrecedent/Development

KeySourcesofU.S.Informa=onPolicy

•  FreedomofInforma@onAct,1966•  CopyrightAct,1976•  PaperworkReduc@onAct,1980• OfficeofManagementandBudget(OMB)CircularNo.A-130,1985

•  ElectronicFOIAAmendments,1996

“…Governmentinforma/onisavaluablena/onalresource,andtheeconomicbenefitstosocietyaremaximizedwhengovernmentinforma/onisavailableina/melyandequitablemannertoall.”

-OMBCircularA-130

“Openandunrestrictedaccesstopublicinforma/onatno

morethanthecostofdissemina/on..”

-OMBCircularA-130

KeySourcesofU.S.Informa=onPolicy

•  PaperworkElimina@onAct,2003• OpenGovernmentDirec@ve,2009• OpenDataExecu@veOrder,2013•  PublicAccesstoFederallyFundedResearchOutputsDirec@ve,2013

WhiteHousePublicAccessDirec@ve

Direc@verequires“digitallyformaeedscien@ficdataresul@ng

fromunclassifiedresearchsupported…byFederalfundingtobestoredandpubliclyaccessibletosearch,retrieve,andanalyze…”

Direc@ontoAgencies“MaximizeAccesstoData”WhileS@ll:

•  Protec@ngconfiden@alityandpersonalprivacy;

•  Recognizingproprietaryinterests,businessconfiden@alinforma@onandIPrights;

•  Balancingvalueoflong-termpreserva@on&accesswithcostsandadministra@veburdens.

And,ohyes–pleasedothisallwithinexis@ngbudgets.

(Fast)Forward3Years…

3.ResearchDataPoliciesAreEmerging

AsofFebruary2016,dralorfinalpolicyplansforaccesstoresearch

data(andar@cles)havebeenreleasedby14ofthe19U.S.

scienceagencies

Evolu@onaryprocess,ongoingCommunityinvolvementabsolutely

necessary.NOTa“one-and-done”policy

dralingprocess.

WHDirec@veprovidedsomeguidance,butallplansdiffersomewhatininterpreta@onof

guidelinesaswellasimplementa@onprocesses.

Lotsofcommonali@es.MostAgencypolicyplans:

•  RequireDataManagementPlans;•  Providedirec@onforapproved

loca@onsfordatadeposit/storage;•  Acknowledgeneedforrou@ne

aeribu@onfordata;•  Requiredatainventories&indices;•  Supportpublic/privatecollabora@on•  Recognizeneedforlong-term

preserva@on

However:Thereisnotyetacommonsetofstandardsforany

ofthesepolicycomponents.

Example:WhileallagenciesrequireDataManagementPlansatfundingproposalstage;wedon’thaveacommonsetof

aeributes/expecta@onsfortheseplans.

Tobeexpected;butmakespolicydevelopmentmorelaborintensive–forfundersandandfunding

recipients.Policydevelopmentishard,andcomplianceistoo.

Thismightbeinterpretedbysomeasasignalthatmoregranular

direc@onisneeded(i.e.,viamoreprescrip@velegisla@on).

Fluidpoli@calclimateinpresiden@alelec@onyearalso

poseschallenges…

4.Whatcanwedotokeepthingsmovinginrightdirec=on?

Reitera@ngnecessityofevolu@onarypolicydevelopmentprocesstoproduceeffec@ve

researchdatapoliciesindifferentdisciplinesisimportant.

Consistentpolicycomponenttracking,regularcommunityinput(fromresearchersandins@tu@ons),

andongoinginteragencycollabora@onisalsovital.

Collabora@onwithcommunitywillbehelpfulinpromo@ng(a

reasonable)levelofstandardiza@ontofacilitatesmoothercomplianceprocess.

“Harmonizing”policycomponentswherepossibletoreduce

opera@ngfric@onwherepossibleiskeysharedgoal.

Communitycollabora@oncanalsobehelpfulindevelopingadvocacyforaddi@onalinvestmentsin

infrastructureneededtosupportaccesstoanduseofresearchdata.

Cannotbuildaneffec@ve,sustainableinfrastructuretosupportvitalna@onal/publicinterestswithoutaddi@onal

investment.

OpenResearchDataisNowaPriority.

Thankyouforlistening.

Heather Joseph Executive Director, SPARC 21 Dupont Circle, Washington, DC 20009 heather@sparcopen.org www.sparcopen.org