Challenges before ICSU Committee on Data for Science & Technology

(CODATA)

Krishan LalPresident, CODATA

&

National Physical LaboratoryNew Delhi

Keynote Speech, Global City Informatization Forum 2010, Shanghai, 25 September 2010

Outline

• CODATA- An Introduction

• Role of CODATA in Diverse Fields of Science and TechnologyTask Groups and Other Activities

• Activities of CODATA focused on Developing World

CODATA, Committee on Data for CODATA, Committee on Data for Science and Technology : An Science and Technology : An Interdisciplinary Body of the Interdisciplinary Body of the International Council for Science International Council for Science [ICSU][ICSU]

•• An independent legal organization, which works inAn independent legal organization, which works inclose collaboration with ICSU and the ICSU familyclose collaboration with ICSU and the ICSU family

• Established in 1966 – Was born at Bombay (Mumbai) India

• Moved to France 1975

• First General Assembly was held in 1968

ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology – CODATA

General Information

CODATA’s Mission

To strengthen international science for the benefit of society by

promoting improved scientific and technical data management and use

www.codata.org

ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology –

CODATAGeneral Information

• Headquarters at 5 rue Auguste Vacquerie 5016 Paris, France; shifted from 51, Blvd de Montmorency, 75016 Paris; Executive Director- Kathleen Cass

• Web site: http://www.codata.org

• Data Science Journalhttp://dsj.codataweb.org

ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology –

CODATAGeneral Information

Present Executive Committee

President: Prof. Krishan LAL (India) (2006-2010)Vice President: Prof. Steve ROSSOUW (S. Africa) (2006-2010)Vice President: Dr. Gordon H. WOOD (Canada) (2006-2010)Secretary General: Dr. Bob CHEN (USA) (2008-2012) Treasurer: Prof. Michel SABOURIN (2008-2012)

Members (2008-2010): Dr. Marcelle GAUNE-ESCARD,France; Prof. Takashi Gojobori, Japan; Dr. Sara GRAVES, USA; Prof. GUOHuadong, China; Prof. Fedor KUZNETSOV, Russia; Prof. Ray NORRIS, IAU; Prof. Antoni NOWAKOWSKI, Poland; Prof. Mikhail ZGUROVSKY, Ukraine

CODATA is a non governmental organization

25 Member Countries

16 International Scientific Unions as Members

4 Co-opted Scientific Organizations

13 Supporting Organizations(Industry, Government and Academia)

ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology – CODATA

General Information

Member Countries

• Australia• Brazil• Cameroon• Canada• Chinese Academy of

Sciences, Beijing• Chinese Academy of

Sciences, Taipei• Czech Republic• France*• Georgia• Germany*• India• Indonesia* Associate Member

• Ireland• Israel• Japan• Korea• Nigeria• Poland• Russia• Senegal• South Africa• Thailand• Ukraine• UK• USA

Scientific Unions• International Union of

Psychological Science

• International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics

• International Union of Nutritional Sciences

• International Union of Pharmacology

• International Union ofImmunological Societies

• International Union ofMicrobiological Societies

• International Union of SoilScientists

• IUGG

• International Astronomical Union

• International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

• International Union of Pure and Applied Physics

• International Union of BiologicalSciences

• International Geographical Union

• International Union of Crystallography

• International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

• International Union of GeologicalSciences

Co-opted Organizations

• ICSU Panel on World Data Centers

• Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical Services

• International Council for Scientific and Technical Information

• World Federation for Culture Collections

Supporting Organizations

• Defense Technical Information

• Springer-Verlag

• All Russian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information

• Chemical Abstracts Services

• Fachinformationszentrum Chemie, Gmbh

• Japan association for International Chemical Information

• National Library of Medicine

• Design Institute for Physical Property Data (DIPPR) American Institute for Chemical Engineers

• Japan Society of Information and Knowledge

• Protein Data Bank

• Protein Information Resources

• Russian Research Centre for Standardization, Information and Certification of Materials (VNITS SMV)

• Stroyteks

CODATA Achieves its Mission through:

• Task Groups

• National Member Activities

• Participation in Important International Initiatives, e.g. WSIS

• Organizes Biennial International Conferences

• CODATA Electronic Data Science Journal

• Publications

• Workshops

• Studies and Reports

• Co-operation and Liaison with Other Scientific Organizations

Publications

• A large number of Monographs and other documents have been published (Springer).

• Currently the Data Science Journal is being published electronically, courtesy Japanese e-platform.

Recognition of Outstanding Contributions

• Outstanding contributions in data science are being recognized by the biennial CODATA Prize.

• CODATA has introduced Young Scientists Award for Best Paper at its Intl. Conference; Special Sessions by young scientists; more to follow

• Canadian CODATA National Committee has shown exemplary initiative to sponsor young researchers to CODATA International Conferences.

CODATA Task Groups• Anthropometric Data and

Engineering

• Biodiversity, Observation and Specimen Records

• Data Sources for Sustainable Development in SADC Countries

• e-Gy Earth and Space Science Data Interoperability

• Exchangeable Materials Data Representation to Support Scientific Research and Education

• Fundamental Constants

• Gas Hydrates

• Global Information Commons for Science Initiative-EU Activities

• Polar Year Data Policy and Management

• Preservation of and Access to S&T Data in Developing Countries

CODATA Task Groups Relevant to Present Initiative

• Biodiversity, Observation and Specimen Records

• Data Sources for Sustainable Development in SADC Countries

• Gas Hydrates

• Preservation of and Access to S&T Data in Developing Countries

CODATA Data Science Journal

• A peer-reviewed electronic journal

• Publishing papers on the management of data and databases in Science and Technology

• The scope of the journal includes descriptions of data systems, their publication on the internet, applications and legal issues

• All of the Sciences are covered, including the Physical Sciences, Engineering, the Geosciences and the Biosciences, along with Agriculture and the Medical Science.

http://dsj.codataweb.org/

Biennal International Conferences

• Recent Past

– Berlin 2004– Beijing 2006 (Over 600 participants from 30

countries) http://www.codata.org/06conf/index.html

− Kiev 2008 http://www.codata.org/06conf/index.html

• Forthcoming Conference:Cape Town: 24-27 October 2010www.codata2010.org

Collaboration with International Organizations: A Sample

• International Council for Science (ICSU) IPYproject

• UNESCO

• Org. of Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD)

• Global Biodiversity Information Framework (GBIF)

• Global Earth Observation Systems of Systems (GEOSS)

• International Association of Networking Publications (INASP)

• International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI)

• Science Commons

• EU bodies

Preparatory Phase: Geneva, Dec 2003Final Phase: Tunis, November 2005

WSIS – The First PhaseCulmination in Geneva

In December 2003, more than 172 countries participated in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) at GenevaIn collaboration with ICSU and UNESCO, it held an International Workshop in UNESCO in March 2003 on “The Role of Science in the Information Society”A nine point Agenda for Action came from this Workshop

Declaration of Principles and Plan of ActionAdopted by 175 countries

Paragraph 7:

“Science has a central role in the development of the Information Society.”

Article 10 of the Agenda for Action: Emphasis on “Access to Information and Knowledge,” and

Article 23 recognizes the important role of “e-Science.”

WSIS First Phase:Geneva, December 2003

Major CODATA activities between Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005)

• Special Session at 19th International Conference of CODATA, Nov 2004, Berlin

• International Workshop on “Creating theInformation Commons for e-Science: Toward Institutional Policies and Guidelines for Action”Paris, 1-2 Sep 2005

• Three Sessions at the World Summit on Information Society, Tunis, November 2005

ICSU,ICSTI, INASP, UNESCO, US National Academy of Sciences,TWAS, and in collaboration of the OECD

Partners

A Significant Achievement

Helped in firming up the new initiative on Global Information Commons for Scienceafter discussions from legal, economic and other perspectives

““Science helped to create the Science helped to create the Information SocietyInformation Society——it can now help it can now help extend that society to all.extend that society to all.””

Iwata, S., and R.S. Chen. 2005. Science and the Digital Divide (editorial). Science 310 (5747, 21 October): 405.

CODATA and Task DA-06-01 of GEOSS

Lead Author:Lead Author: Paul F.Paul F. UhlirUhlirCore Authors:Core Authors: Robert ChenRobert Chen

Charles BartonCharles BartonJoanne IreneJoanne Irene GabrynowiczGabrynowiczKatleenKatleen JanssenJanssen

A white paper on guidelines for data sharing for GEOSS

Important Important LandmarksLandmarks

March 2006:March 2006: Discussions with Discussions with thethe International International CouncilCouncil for Science, ICSUfor Science, ICSU

AprilApril 2006:2006: Discussions commence with GEO Discussions commence with GEO Secretariat CODATA a Secretariat CODATA a CoCo--Lead Lead on on the Taskthe Task

OctoberOctober 2006:2006: GEO/CODATA GEO/CODATA organizeorganize a meeting in a meeting in Beijing Beijing aroundaround CODATA CODATA ConferenceConference(CODATA (CODATA appointed leadappointed lead on on TaskTask))

JuneJune 2007:2007: First draft ofFirst draft of White White Paper and Paper and SummarySummary

ContinuedContinued………………SeptemberSeptember 2007:2007: PresentedPresented to ADC meeting to ADC meeting

WashingtonWashington

OctoberOctober 2007:2007: Update ofUpdate of White White Paper basedPaper based on on commentscomments

NovemberNovember 2007:2007: PresentedPresented to GEO to GEO Plenary and Plenary and MinisterialMinisterial, Cape , Cape TownTown

May 2008:May 2008: Update ofUpdate of White White Paper basedPaper based on on commentscomments

Dividing theDividing the document document into two into two componentscomponentsWhite White PaperPaperImplementation GuidelinesImplementation Guidelines

Final Final StepsSteps

2008:2008: Bucharest PlenaryBucharest Plenary (in place (in place of of Beijing)Beijing)

2009: 2009: PresentationPresentation to GEO to GEO PlenaryPlenary in Washingtonin Washington

2010:2010: MinistMinistéériel Meetingriel Meeting

COMMUNIA The European Thematic Network on the

Public Domain in the Digital Age

• European point of reference for both theoretical and practical analysis as well as strategic policy discussion of existing andexisting and emerging issues related to emerging issues related to the public domain in the digital the public domain in the digital environmentenvironment - as well as related topics including, but not limited, alternative forms of licensing for creative material; open access to scientific publications and research results; management of works whose authors are unknown (i.e. orphan works)

COMMUNIA Contd…

Coverage• Geographical territory of the European Union

as well as neighbouring and accessing countries

• Plans to build strategic relationships with third countries such as the United States and Brazil

Activities and Deliverables during three years• Thematic workshops (3/yr) and conferences (1/yr) to

maintain a strong link between all the participants and use face-to-face meetings as a source of material for the analytical and practical work of the project

• Production of a book• Establishment of an academic journal• A "best practices" guide for European research and

reference centers on the topics covered by COMMUNIA

• A final strategic report containing policy guidelines that will help all the stakeholders tackling the issues that the existence of a digital public domain have raised and will undoubtetdly continue to raise.

COMMUNIA Contd…

Stakeholders• EU Member States• Three candidate countries and Switzerland• USA and Brazil• CODATA• Creative Commons• EBLIDA

COMMUNIA Contd…

• CODATA has the potential to serve with other organizations as a vehicle of development in the least developed regions, particularly in increasing the quality and spread of education.

• There is a great scope in integrating traditional knowledge base with the main stream in a transparent and ethical manner.

Challenges Facing CODATAChallenges Facing CODATA

• Good efforts distributed in several organizations:Some examplesCSIR—NGRI, NML,NPL, TKDL and othersDAE--- BARC, IGCARDBT---Sponsors these activitiesDST--- Sponsors these activitiesICARICMRONGC

Data Science and Indian Data Science and Indian ScenarioScenario

• Need for Digital Repositories in all organizations

• Already initiatives are being taken by many institutes

Data Science and Indian Data Science and Indian ScenarioScenario

Challenges before CODATA

• Need for organizing Data Science as an important disciplineExamples of emerging areas: Combinatorial Material Science; Design of Materials

• Data and Information an important part of ICSU Strategic Plan

• Active participation in International Activities like CODATA Task Groups,

Challenges before CODATA

Possibilities of Strong International Collaboration

ICSU

CODATA

IAP

UNIDO ??

Summary

• CODATA, its Mission and activities

• Participation in international initiatives like those of UNESCO and ICSU

• Activies related to developing countries

Thank You

Dhanyavad

Arigatogozaimasu

Cnacuδo

Merci