Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Data and Information for Science

This symposium, which was held on March 10-11, 2003, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, brought together policy experts and managers from the government and academic sectors in both developed and developing countries to (1) describe the role, value, and limits that the public domain and open access to digital data and information have in the context of international research; (2) identify and analyze the various legal, economic, and technological pressures on the public domain in digital data and information, and their potential effects on international research; and (3) review the existing and proposed approaches for preserving and promoting the public domain and open access to scientific and technical data and information on a global basis, with particular attention to the needs of developing countries.Table of ContentsFront MatterIntroduction1 Welcome by CODATA President2 Introduction by Symposium Chair3 UNESCO’s Approach to Open-Access and Public-Domain Information4 Science Communication and Public PolicySession 1: Legal, Economic, and Technological Framework for Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Data and Information for Science5 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair6 Overview of Legal Aspects in the European Union7 Database Protection in Countries of the South8 Economic Overview of Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Scientific and Technical Information9 Scientific Research, Information Flows, and the Impact of Database Protection on Developing Countries10 Information Technology and Data in the Context of Developing CountriesSession 2: Data and Information in the Public Health Sector11 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair12 The Ptolemy Project: Delivering Electronic Health Information in East Africa13 Health Information for Disaster Preparedness in Latin America14 Bioline International and the Journal of Postgraduate Medicine: A Collaborative Model of Open-Access PublishingSession 3: Data and Information in the Environmental Sector15 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair16 Geospatial Information for Development17 Borders in Cyberspace: Conflicting Government Information Policies and Their Economic Impacts18 Recent Developments in Environmental Data Access Policies in the Peoples’ Republic of ChinaSession 4: Basic Sciences and Higher Education19 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair20 Information Needs for Basic Research: An African Perspective21 International Transfer of Information in the Physical Sciences22 Access to Scientific Information: The Ukrainian Research and Academic NetworkSession 5: Innovative Models for Public-Domain Production of and Open Access to Scientific and Technical Data and Information23 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair24 A Contractually Reconstructed Research Commons for Scientific Data: International Considerations25 The Open-Source Paradigm and the Production of Scientific Information: A Future Vision and Implications for Developing Countries26 New and Changing Scientific Publication Practices Due to Open-Access Publication Initiatives27 Overview of Open-Access and Public-Commons Initiatives in the United StatesSession 6: Examples of New Initiatives in Developing Countries 28 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair29 Overview of Initiatives in the Developing World30 Open-Source Geographic Information Systems Software: Myths and Realities31 Open-Access Research and the Public Domain in South African Universities: The Public Knowledge Project’s Open Journal Systems32 The Public Knowledge Project’s Open Journal Systems33 Metadata Clearinghouse and Open Access to Geographic Data in Namibia34 Open-Access Initiatives in India35 Closing Remarks by Symposium ChairAppendix A: Symposium AgendaAppendix B: Biographical Summaries of Symposium Speakers and Steering Committee MembersAppendix C: Symposium AttendeesAppendix D: Acronyms and Initialisms