Information and Knowledge Sharing in the Agbiosciences Worldwide: Open Traditions, Open Borders Peter Ballantyne USAIN Conference April 2008
Information and Knowledge Sharing in the Agbiosciences
Worldwide: Open Traditions, Open Borders
Peter Ballantyne
USAIN ConferenceApril 2008
Traditions• “The field of knowledge is the common
property of all mankind” - Thomas Jefferson, 1807
• “Public science systems … are based on the principle of openness and the free exchange of ideas, information and knowledge” – OECD, 2007
• “An old tradition and a new technology have converged to make possible an unprecedented public good. The old tradition is the willingness of scientists and scholars to publish the fruits of their research … The new technology is the internet” – Budapest OA Initiative, 2002
Open Borders• Public domain AgBiosciences information and
knowledge that wants to travel and migrate needs open borders (or open ways to cross closed ones)
• Can we adopt– Open formats and licenses (‘passports’) that allow
and encourage content to travel– Open tools, standards and systems (visa's) that
facilitate exchange and accessibility of this content– Open mindsets and philosophies that value
collaboration, sharing and the knowledge of others
Opening the Borders?
• Making Goods Public
• Acting in Innovation Systems
• Using the Web 2.0
Public Goods• Research knowledge and technology outputs that are
applicable and readily accessible– IPCC work on climate change, research on biodiversity,
research into diseases….? [the benefits are for all of us]
• Reports, articles, data, databases, maps, books, policy recommendations …
• A research output is a PG when “others should be able to access and benefit from the research” – Jim Ryan for the CGIAR
• Our task is to provide the access, and enable benefits
How public are the goods?• Staff of a research institute:
– Produced 50 journal articles• 100% available online on internet• 22% open accessible online• 52% open accessible through AGORA
– Produced 31 books and chapters• 32% available online [mainly google books]
– Produced 30 conference papers• 60% open accessible online
– Produced 52 own reports• 83% open accessible online
• Is research a ‘public good’ when many outputs are unavailable and inaccessible?
• What level of ‘publicly’ accessible is desirable, acceptable, feasible?– Do accessibility and quality compete?
Making Goods Public?
• Goods are not ‘born’ public, we need to make them public: Available, Accessible, Applicable
• Available, in full, now and for the future
• Open, easy to access and exchange, in different ways, by different people …
• Relevant, and in forms that others can apply
• How do we, singly and together, make our goods ‘public’?
Innovation Systems• Before, a few people and organizations had, and
produced, and needed ‘the’ knowledge
• Now, we recognize that ALL the actors in a ‘system’ have some useful knowledge
• “To be properly knowledgeable, the centres and the peripheries need to be in conversations with the other” – Wendell Berry speaking at usain/iaald, 2005
An Innovation System
- Various actors
Acting in Innovation Systems?• “All actors in the R&D process – from
research design to those who will apply the outcomes in the field – should communicate with each other and should have equal access to knowledge” – CGIAR Science Council, 2006
• How do we enable the different ‘actors’ to connect with each other’s knowledge
Web 2.0• User-generated / user-personalized / user
re-mixed content
• ‘Published’ for others to easily re-use, and re-compose
• ‘Attitude of mind’ as well as toolset
The ‘social’ apps• blogs and vlogs, to publish our content in
words, videos or images;• wikis and social network tools, to jointly
develop ideas and exchange;• tags, to order our thoughts;• feeds spreading the word to other sites
and across the net;• mash-ups, bringing views of the web
together for ourselves and others
Removing Border Controls?• Facilitate open, inclusive, multi-directional
interactions among actors and knowledge in innovation systems
• Make goods and content ‘public’ with ‘triple A’ ratings of availability, accessibility, applicability
• Use Web 2.0 as the ‘open’ visa’s for content to travel far and wide
Work across Borders
Join international Communities