REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC OPEN DATA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 4 TH SEPTEMBER 2017 MINISTER PALACE AT MAHAZOARIVO ANTANANARIVO MADAGASCAR Taken note by Valérie RAMAHAVALISOA Finalized and presented by NOASILALAONOMENJANAHARY Ambinitsoa Lucie, National Focal Point AfriGEOSS and Technical Membre of AOSP
BACKGROUND The Science International Accord on Open Data in a Big Data World presents an inclusive vision of the need for and the benefits of Open Data for science internationally and in particular for Lower and Middle Income Countries, of which Madagascar is one. The development of a Madagascar open data agenda depends not only on the physical infrastructure for acquiring, curating and disseminating data and information, but also on protocols, policies and procedures in the science system that provide the structure and support to ensure that science objectives are achieved. Madagascar has been an active role player and participant in environmental issues since 2005, and has been a GEO member since 17 November 2009. Madagascar activities so far include: Presentation and implementation of the GEO Work plan 2012-2015; Participation in the 2nd Decennial GEO Work Program 2016-2025; AfriGEOSS member; Participant in the African Open Science Platform project; and Launch of Madagascar Open Data Day. A major outcome of the Science International Accord on Open Data in a Big Data Worldis the African Open Science Platform initiative, supported by the South African Department of Science and Technology, directed by CODATA and implemented by ASSAf. Several open science activities are underway across Africa. Through the African Open Science Platform initiative, it is expected that a great deal will be gained if, in the context of developing inter-regional links, mechanisms for collaboration, exchange of good practice and coordination can be established. The Task Group on Preservation of and Access to Scientific and Technical Data in/for/with Developing Countries, Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA-PASTD), established in 2002, has provided a muchneeded focus on data preservation and archiving practices of developing countries. To take the Madagascar Open Data agenda forward, the African Open Science Platform project partners with PASTD CODATA and other key stakeholders to host a series of events, addressing environmental and scientific open data for sustainable development goals. The series of invents included the following: High-level Meeting on Environmental and Scientific Open Data for Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries, hosted at the Prime Minister Palace Mahazoarivo, Madagascar, on 4 September 2017; International Workshop on Environmental and Scientific Open Data for Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries, hosted at the Hotel Carlton, Antananarivo, Madagascar, on 5 and 6 September 2017; and A Madagascar Training Workshop on Open Data and Re-use, presented by COADATA at the University of Antananarivo, Ankatso, Madagascar on 7 and 8 September 2017.
OBJECTIVES The objectives of this meeting were to achieve the following outcomes: Promote strategy, policy and institutional guidelines for the implementation of opendata principles; Provide an interdisciplinary forum for enhancing capacity building and sharing best practice; Advance data publishing; and Enhance data re-use and repositories in support of sustainable development in Madagascar. PARTICIPANTS Total: 64 o Members of Government: 11 o Representing the Ministers: 20 o International Experts: 7 o Junior Staff: 10 o Local Organizers: 10 o Journalists: 6 OPENING SESSION NOASILALAONOMENJANAHARY Ambinitsoa Lucie, National Focal Point of AFRIGEOSS started the ceremony with official greetings, followed by a technical speech by Dr NDAHIMANANJARA Johanita, Minister of Environment, Ecology and Forest. This speech set the objectives and context of the high-level meeting. The Minister welcomed the honorable national and international participants. She enunciated that organizing this international workshop on open data is a commitment that Madagascar had to honor. She underscored that this workshop was the result of strong collaboration between the departments of Post-Telecommunication and Digital Development, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Economy and Planning. She raised the fact that the preservation and the access to scientific and technical data will be
facilitated by the use of new information and communication technologies. Developing countries should take advantage and get access to these technologies. She added that open data aims at sharing our knowledge and experiences in order to meet the 10 Principles of Open Data Sharing in Nairobi. It also contributes tosectorial development. From this meeting, Madagascar will start to draft its national policy on open data. Mr Rivo RAKOTOVAO, Minister to the Presidency in charge ofagriculture and Livestock,represented the Prime Minister, and conducted the official opening of the meeting. He expressed his gratitude toward participants. He underlined that climate issues brought all to have this meeting, to discuss and find solutions through sharing data. He added that this meeting was expected to familiarize all with open data, a possible framework, and how to proceed with policy formulation for Madagascar. He lead also the High level meeting as an official chairman. PRESENTATION Dr Simon HODSON Executive Director, CODATA delivered a presentation on: Open Science and FAIR Data: Crucial Component for Sustainable Development in a Big Data World.
Dr HODSON started off by providing more background on CODATA: - CODATA is a non-profit world organization, as part of the International Council of Science (ICSU). - CODATA aims to make science work for the advantage of society by improving data availability and reusability. - CODATA s executive committee has a global representation, including two members from the African continent. - CODATA has three strategic priorities: 1. Promoting policy and good practice for open data. 2. Improving data science. 3. Capacity building in data management. Dr HODSON continued defining Open Science with reference to: - Open access researchliterature. - Data that are open as far as possible and as closed as necessary. - FAIR data (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable). - Validating and providing access to research findings from different sectors. - An open exchange and survey culture. He underlined the fact that open data has advanced many disciplines such as: climatology, astronomy, remote sensing, biodiversity, ecology. Policy on open data is a big commitment from government, which will require a change in science implementation.
Limitations toopening data Dr Hodson explained the typology of data that must berestricted. He saidthat necessary restrictions need to be proportionate and should not unnecessarily inhibit research. They need to be further analyzed and guidelines produced so that they are better understood. It is therefore crucial to set up a policy with accompanyingguidelines for implementation, in which restricted data, secured data and open data are clearly distinguished and described. By explaining FAIR data principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable), he underscored that the value of data depends on its reutilization. Open data/open science in Africa The following were highlighted by Dr Hodson: - The 21st century is the century of data. - Competence and data infrastructure are essential for economic growth and sustainable development. - It is crucial that African governments incl. research and training systems, address capacity building and data facilities. - Significant quantities of data generated through African research projectsare not hosted by African institutions (as a result the data is often not readily available to African researchers). Open data has many benefits, of which some include: - Good scientific practice requires the communication of evidence. - Open data is needed in order for science to be reproducible and corrected, where needed. - Data provides evidence, and separates science from merely an opinion.
According to the journal Nature, only 11% of the studiespublished in the journal are replicable. A lack of data communication leads to uncertainty regarding scientific outcomes. Another challenge is that masses of data are generated by computers/machines, but because of a lack of infrastructure it cannot be shared and managed. From studies conducted, 80%of data from the early 1990 s are lost forever (according to 516 studies), because no oneknows where to find it anymore. That means a loss of investment and knowledge, caused by the lack of means and capacity in properly curating valuable data. Open data practice has changed the research field. Different disciplines are informed by open data, incl. astronomy, environmental science, and science that use remote sensing. Economic imbalance is also lessened by managing data and information. The more data isfair, the more it is reliable to inform good decision making. Emergency situations also need quality and well curated open data at any given time. When talking about return on investment, reusing data is more beneficial than charging data. Comparedto fuel, data is more valuable because ithas added value when it is used, and sustainable when it is reused. Open data ice berg An ice berg can be used to illustratethat challenges regarding sharing data go far beyond technical ones. Challenges faced include: system challenges, funding challenges, supporting challenges, etc. African Open Science Platform (AOSP) This project is managed by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), funded by the South African Dept. of Science and Technology through the National Research Foundation, and directed by CODATA. The objective of this project is to get a better
understanding of the current landscape of the African continent in terms of open data, as applied to policy, infrastructure, capacity building and incentives. The Madagascar highlevel meeting and international workshop have been financed through AOSP. Through bringing key stakeholders and decision makers on national level to the table, it is expected that African countries can gain much in terms of dialogue on issues related to open data. Once established, national fora within countries are expected to keep the momentum going. CODATA, through being a partner to the African Open Science Platform project, collaborates with African countries and the South African project team to get conversations started on open data policy, infrastructure, capacity building and incentives. Noasilalaonomenjanahary Ambinintsoa Lucie is Member of Technical Advisory of the African Open Science Platform Project. QUESTION/ANSWER Minister ofhigher Education and Scientific Research Researchers invest lots of time, resources and intellectual input into generating data. How can researchers be expected to share their data, and what incentives are there to motivate them so share their data? Response: Investment in science has more success when the data is shared. There are different options: one is to publish the data in scientific journals specializingin publishing data, in order for the data to be validated. Alternatively, acknowledgethe contribution of the researcher through assigning a monetary value to it. Director of Planning at the Ministry of National Education We publish our (governmental) data on Facebookevery year. Our data isalso sent to the UNESCO Statistical Institute. Is this data considered as open data? Response:The FAIR data principles must be fully considered for it to qualify as open data. Facebook is not suitable for the long term storage and curationof data. Data
curationrequires long term responsibilities and support and therefore governmental commitment. Minister of Tourism Is there any categorization of open data? Is there data that can be directly shared with the publicas being acontribution to humanity? Response: Data and findingsdata are not necessarily the same. Intellectualpropertycan beprotected, even if open.there is huge public interest in accessing data, for example in the field of health science, e.g. in case of an avian flu outbreak. Prime MinisterAdvisor The Advisor to the Prime Minister commented that the principle of data sharing is relative and it needed to be promoted. Data must beregarded asworld sheritage. Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research The Ministertalked about the disadvantages of opening data. According to her, conducting research needs hugefinancial support. Most of the time foreign researchers are more advanced than national researchers. The foreign researcherstake with them fundingsfor their research, resulting in Madagascar not benefitting from the research findings. Response: One of the main objectives of AOSP is to encourage African countries to formulate policies on research and data sharing, to manage their knowledge accordingly, so they can be full participants in international research and knowledge creation. Head of Service at the Ministry of Public Health Research findings have to be approved by ethics committees. What are the mechanisms for includingopen data as part of the ethical approval process? Response: Certain Data can be proposed to the committee by the researcher, and the possibility of sharing will be evaluated. An ethical culture is very important, and data can be re-used in an ethical and managed way.
CONCLUSION The High Level Meeting is very fruitful with 11 Ministers and the representing of the 29 Ministers and all Technical Direction, working in Open Data. After the presentation of the Open data in Big Data World, all Ministers well received the information and agree to launch the open data and the national policy of open data for sustainable development. The High Level Meeting about the environmental and scientific opendata for sustainable development is successful, positive and hopeful. The High Level Meeting was closed by a group photo Antananarivo, Madagascar,4 th September 2017, from 14.30 to 17.00