PREFACE
THE ROYAL SOCIETY and the National Academy of Sciences have been at the forefront of what is now called “open science” for centuries. In 1665 the Royal Society’s first secretary, Henry Oldenburg, began publishing the world’s first scientific journal, Philosophical Transactions, to disseminate scientific findings and promote early modern science. The 1863 charter of the National Academy of Sciences commits the institution to provide scientific advice to the government “whenever called upon,” which implies also providing the information and reasoning on which that advice is based.
Yet the thorny details of how scientific data should be disseminated within the research community and to the public are still being debated. Gathering, documenting, preserving, and sharing data can be expensive and may require new technologies and innovative institutional arrangements. As digital technologies gather ever increasing volumes of data about many different aspects of our lives, ensuring the privacy of individuals is a growing concern. Researchers do not necessarily receive recognition or professional rewards for making data available for sharing, which acts as a disincentive to the dissemination of data. Many data that would be useful to the scientific community are generated by private-sector companies that want to keep the information private for commercial reasons.
These and the many other issues surrounding scientific data were the motivating forces behind the US-UK Scientific Forum on Researcher Access to Data held on September 12–13, 2023, in Washington, DC. Sponsored by the Royal Society and the National Academy of Sciences, the forum addressed best practices and lessons learned from fields that are at the forefront of data sharing; the potential benefits and possible risks of linking data from different sources; and challenges related to pressing societal problems such as online misinformation and the need for access to data during pandemics and other emergencies. The meeting brought together some of the world’s most knowledgeable, experienced, and insightful practitioners and analysts of data sharing.
After a keynote address by Sir Ian Diamond, the United Kingdom’s National Statistician, six sessions explored case studies of data sharing centered on such topics as the uses of health data, privately held data, and data for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as the role of data institutions. After each session, forum participants divided into breakout groups to discuss the more general issues surfaced by the case studies, with the major topics of discussion being reported back to the full group. In a final session, the members of the organizing committee identified the major issues they saw emerging from the forum. The meeting was designed to generate not conclusions and recommendations but observations and ideas on which future deliberations and actions could build.
For their work in structuring, organizing, and moderating the forum we would like to thank the members of the organizing committee: Arturo Casadevall and Frank Kelly (co-chairs of the committee), Jamie Austin, Cynthia Dwork, Gina Neff, Feryal Özel, Marian Scott, Richard Sever, and Nigel Shadbolt. Anna Bashkirova and Jennifer Clements of the National Academy of Sciences provided essential staff support. Steve Olson wrote this summary of the forum, and videos of the full event are available on the NAS website, www.nasonline.org.
The underlying premise of open science is that data need to be made available so that they can do the most good possible. When the greatest number of creative, diverse, and inspired minds can find, access, link, and analyze data, that information will find its optimal uses. The forum was designed to hasten progress toward that goal.
MARCIA MCNUTT, President, National Academy of Sciences
ADRIAN SMITH, President, The Royal Society
