Transcript The University PowerPoint Template

TNC2013, Maastricht, 4 June 2013
‘Open’ as modus operandi for
Research and Higher Education
Stephen Pinfield
Sheffield iSchool and member of
the e-InfraNet Think Tank
e-InfraNet ‘Open’ Focus
Key points:
• Work on ‘Open’ to date has been patchy:
• Different developments
• Different contexts
• Different drivers
• Different maturity levels
• There is a need for a more co-ordinated approach
producing a generic Open framework to create a more
effective, efficient and sustainable research and HE
system – Open to become the default modus operandi
for research and HE
Outline
• Background to the e-InfraNet project
• Definitions of ‘Open’
• Major ‘Open’ developments
• Benefits of Open
• Challenges
• Recommendations
e-InfraNet: background
• Title: European Network for Coordination of Policies and
Programmes on e-Infrastructures
• Funding: EU Framework 7 Capacities Research Infrastructures
Programme
• Aim: to promote development of policy (at both EU and memberstate levels) enabling the more effective and efficient delivery of einfrastructure and e-infrastructure programmes
• Vision: “to build a network that will develop and strengthen
cooperation and coordination between national e-infrastructures and
smooth their efficient integration in the European Research Area.”
• Focuses:
• Green technology
• Cloud computing
• Openness
e-InfraNet Open Focus
• Began work in 2010 creating an inventory of European
Open initiatives
• Looked in detail at 48 programmes in 10 sample EU
countries
• Brought together technical experts and thought leaders
from around Europe to discuss Open and make
recommendations
• Report published April 2013: e-InfraNet: ‘Open’ as the
default modus operandi for research and higher
education*
* e-InfraNet: ‘Open’ as the default modus operandi for research and higher education. Report by the
European Network for Coordination of Policies and Programmes on e-Infrastructures. http://einfranet.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/e-InfraNet-Open-as-the-default-modus-operandi-for-researchand-higher-education.pdf
Open access to research literature
Open data
Open
approaches
identified
by
e-InfraNet
Open educational resources
Open source software
Open infrastructure
Open standards
Open development
Open education
Open peer review
Open research
Open innovation
‘Open’ definitions
From the Open Access community:
• “…where digital content is fully, freely,
immediately and permanently available and can
be viewed and reused with minimal restrictions.”
(Adapted from Pinfield 2009, 2011)
• “…digital, online, free of charge, and free of
most copyright and licensing restrictions.”
(Suber, 2012)
How open is ‘Open’?
Gratis OA
Libre OA
Gratis-Libre OA Spectrum:
• “Gratis OA is free of charge but not more free than that.
Users must still seek permission to exceed fair use.
Gratis OA removes price barriers but not permission
barriers.
• Libre OA is free of charge and also free of some
copyright and licensing restrictions. Users have
permission to exceed fair use, at least in certain
ways…Libre OA removes price barriers and at least
some permission barriers.”
(Suber, 2012, 66)
‘Open’ definitions
From the Open Educational Resources
community:
The 4 ‘Rs’:
• Reuse
• Revise
• Remix
• Redistribute
(Wiley, 2010)
The Example of Text/Data Mining
Text mining requirements:
• Open Content which is:
• Available
• Copyable
• Configurable
• Open Systems/
Infrastructure
Definitions of ‘Open’
From the Open-Source Software community:
Open as process or activity:
• “The essence of open source is not the software. It
is the process by which the software is created.
Think of the software itself as an artefact of the
production process. And artefacts are often not the
appropriate focus of a broader explanation.”
(Weber, 2004)
Open as:
Content – Process – Infrastructure
‘Open’: broad definition
“Openness means ensuring that there is
little or no barrier to access for anyone who
can contribute to a particular development or
use its output.”
(Wilbert Kraan of the UK CETIS project,
quoted in e-InfraNet, 2013, 15)
Open educational resources
Open
infrastructure
Open source software
Open infrastructure
Open standards
Open development
Open education
Open peer review
Open research
Open innovation
Open process
Open
approaches
identified
by
e-InfraNet
Open culture
Open data
Open content
Open access to research literature
Uncoordinated development
to date
• “Patchwork” of Open developments, initiatives and
programmes across Europe and beyond:
• National developments: e.g. sponsored by Jisc, SURF, DFG etc
• EU developments e.g. DRIVER, OpenAIRE developing the OA
repository infrastructure, European Grid Initiative (in collaboration with
National Grid Initiatives)
• International consortia e.g. Open Courseware Consortium promoting
OERs, Research Data Alliance encouraging data sharing
• International foundations e.g. Free Software Foundation promoting
OSS, Open Knowledge Foundation advocating various open
approaches
• Most developments focused on particular Open Content
and Open Infrastructure developments
• More mature areas: Open Access, OSS, Open Systems, Open
Standards, then Open Data, OER
Open policy developments
• Open programmes complemented by recent policy
developments in Europe and beyond:
• Funder policies: e.g. Wellcome Trust
• National developments: e.g. Research Councils UK (RCUK) policy
(initial version, July 2012; latest version with guidance, April 2013)
• European developments: e.g. EU policy on OA to research results (July
2012)
• Other national developments (beyond Europe): e.g. US Fair Access to
Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR) bill announced
(February 2013); Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
memorandum (February 2013)
• International organisations developments: e.g. UNESCO 2012 Paris
Declaration on OERs
• Focus on Open Access, Open Data, Open Infrastructure
Shared benefits of Open
• R&D benefits
• Greater visibility and impact from reuse
• Improved quality
• Enhancement and protection of reputation and trust in institutions
• Societal/Political benefits
• Innovation and agility
• Transparency and accountability
• Democracy
• Economic benefits
• Business opportunities
• Cost effectiveness
• Evidence base varies between the different Opens – needs further
work
• Shared benefits emphasise interconnectedness of the Opens
Challenges
• Levels of openness
• Intellectual property
• Competition-cooperation tension
• Security
• Disciplinary differences
• Evaluation and reward incentives
• Preservation
• Governance
• Sustainability
• Skills
• Cultures
• Defining the limits of Open
Recommendations for further
action
• Open as the “default modus operandi for research and
higher education”
• Adoption and implementation of a generic Open policy
framework
• Coordinating the vision and approach can benefit all
Opens individually
• Pragmatic approach to implementation allowing flexibility
across the Opens, geographic and disciplinary domains
Action points
• European and national governments adopt Open as the default
modus operandi and reflect this in their policies and programmes
• Adoption of the Open Development Methodology for publicly-funded
projects
• Review of evaluation and reward frameworks to create incentives for
researchers and advice on copyright and licensing issues that
promotes Open
• Training and support for researchers and other staff
• Interoperability of systems, services and content supported is a key
component of European e-infrastructure
• Ongoing investment in R&D in Open with respect to policy, good
practice and technical development
Acknowledgements
• Lilian van der Vaart (SURF) – main author of e-InfraNet
(2013)
• Marnix van Berchum, Maureen Burgess, Rachel Bruce,
Gabriel Hanganu, Neil Jacobs, Damien Lecarpentier and
Paul Stokes – contributions to the final e-InfraNet Open
report
• Participants in workshops, consultations etc
• European Commission Framework 7
Questions?
[email protected]