Nature News: Venice ‘time machine’ project suspended amid data row

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03240-w

Disagreements among international partners leave plans to digitize the Italian city’s history in limbo.

Two key partners have suspended the Venice Time Machine project after reaching an impasse over issues surrounding open data and methodology. The State Archive of Venice and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) say they have had to pause data collection, and the archive’s director has raised questions about the usability of the 8 terabytes of information that have already been collected.

Microsoft releases data use agreements for open data

Microsoft has released three data use agreements for open data, and is asking for public comments/feedback before the end of September 2019:

• Open Use of Data Agreement (O-UDA)
• "Designed for use with open datasets which don't include personal data or data owned by a data provider. It is the most open and least restricted of the three first proposals."
• Computational Use of Data Agreement (C-UDA)
• "The goal of the C-UDA is to define a use of data sets for AI training purposes that contain third party materials, in a manner consistent with law."
• Data Use Agreement for Open AI Model Development (DUA-OAI)
• "The goal of the DUA-OAI is to create a template agreement that parties might use to share data to train an artificial intelligence (AI) model and then to make that trained AI model publicly available through an open source licensing structure."

From ZDNet:

Microsoft looks to 'do for data sharing what open source did for code'
https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-looks-to-do-for-data-sharing-what-open-source-did-for-code/

The agreements are listed here:
https://news.microsoft.com/datainnovation/#data-use-agreements

Elsevier releases report "Research Futures: drivers and scenarios for the next decade"

Elsevier has released a report explaining its part in improving “the information system supporting research” over the next decade...

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/elsevier-research-futures-report

The need for science to focus on data sharing

From: http://sciencemeetsbusiness.com.au/nas-releases-open-science-report-claims-data-just-valuable-publication/?

The need for science to focus on data sharing

July 27, 2018

Should scientists’ incentives place as much emphasis on how openly available they make their data, as on the scholarly articles they publish?

The USA’s National Academies of Sciences (NAS) has released a new study that sheds light on the state of open science around the world. The report, Open Science by Design: Realizing a Vision for 21st Century Research, says different scientific disciplines are facing different issues, but all of them need to focus on data as much as publications.  More....

Open Science By Design: Realizing a Vision for 21st Century Research released today by the National (USA) Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/brdi/open_science_enterprise/index.htm 

The debate has just started

"Soft terms like 'open' and 'sharing' don't tell the true story of your data"

http://theconversation.com/soft-terms-like-open-and-sharing-dont-tell-the-true-story-of-your-data-95521 

ODI survey reveals British consumer attitudes to sharing personal data

https://theodi.org/blog/odi-survey-reveals-british-consumer-attitudes-to-sharing-personal-data-online

The Open Data Institute has released findings from new consumer research, conducted online by YouGov, revealing current attitudes of British adults online towards sharing personal data. The full dataset can be viewed here under an open licence

The State of the Union of Open Data, Second Edition

The Data Foundation and Grant Thornton have co-published the second edition of The State of the Union of Open Data, which combines the perspectives of more than 20 government and industry leaders collected through one-on-one interviews. Their consensus? Once government and the private sector transition to open data – information both electronically standardized and freely available – it becomes a valuable resource with both internal and external applications.

Read more...

Download the report

National Cancer Control Indicators

https://ncci.canceraustralia.gov.au/ncci-framework

"Cancer Australia’s National Cancer Control Indicators (NCCI) website is a unique, dynamic national resource that brings together, for the first time, trusted national data to inform where our efforts can be best placed.

NCCI comprises a set of indicators across the continuum of cancer care, from Prevention and Screening through to Diagnosis, Treatment, Psychosocial care, Research and Outcomes. The indicators have been developed through an extensive engagement and consultation process.

NCCI forms a bridge between information and outcomes, enabling users to see interconnections and relationships across cancer control, and to monitor national trends and benchmark internationally.

Designed for policymakers, governments, cancer organisation, researchers, health professionals and consumers, the data on the website will enhance understanding, stimulate enquiry and inform future directions in cancer control, whether in research, policy or clinical care. It will also be a trustworthy, authoritative source of information for the broader community and people affected by cancer.

Through NCCI, users can choose the type and depth of information they require through interactive charts which provide a visual representation of each indicator.

Data presented on NCCI represents currently available data sourced and collated in a coordinated approach involving Australia’s key national cancer data custodians including the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS)."

NSW government open data

"The NSW government has overhauled its open data infrastructure with the imminent launch of a new data marketplace to be developed and managed on Data Republic’s Senate platform."

http://www.innovationaus.com/2017/11/NSW-turns-tap-on-open-data

DHS Hidden Signals Challenge

DHS Hidden Signals Challenge

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) calls upon data innovators from a wide variety of fields— from data science, to civic tech, to epidemiology— to develop concepts for novel uses of existing data that will identify signals and achieve timelier alerts for biothreats in our cities and communities. Successful concepts will explore connections between multiple readily accessible data sources to develop real-time insights that can improve public safety responses to emerging biothreats.

For more information and to register - Go here

The Nextgov website has an article about the challenge.

Open Data Institute: the Data Ethics Canvas

https://theodi.org/blog/why-we-need-the-data-ethics-canvas


"Data is emerging as a vital and virtual form of infrastructure that we rely on. This creates the opportunity to build better societies but also the risk that we lose trust, not just in data or facts but also in businesses and governments.

One of the ways that we can address this is to improve data ethics.

The choices made about what data is collected and how it is used should not be unfair, discriminatory or deceptive. Our new paper and tool will help you learn how to do this."

"Government agencies must consider ethics of data use, and not just their own"

"A surprising example of how government data can be put to “appalling” use came up at yesterday’s Data+Privacy Conference, where ethical frameworks that go beyond basic legal compliance were a major topic of discussion."...

http://www.themandarin.com.au/81209-government-agencies-must-consider-ethics-of-data-use-and-not-just-their-own/

Trust is an issue for researchers

According to the findings of Research data infrastructures in the UK, academics often “do not trust other researchers’ data”, and the sector seems unsure as to who has overall responsibility for ensuring basic data quality. The report goes on to say that for both “creators and users of research data”, it is “frequently unclear…what has been or will be done, and by whom” to ensure data quality.

from 
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/academics-often-dont-trust-other-researchers-data 

Fighshare partners with American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

"Figshare, an online digital repository for academic research, has announced a partnership with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to showcase supplementary research outputs within the communication sciences and disorders discipline."

https://www.researchinformation.info/news/figshare-partners-asha

New SPARC Europe Report provides analysis of Open Data and Open Science Policies in Europe

http://sparceurope.org/new-sparc-europe-report-analyses-open-data-open-science-policies-europe/

"Providing an analysis of Open Data and Open Science policies across Europe, today we are releasing a new report. Produced in collaboration with the Digital Curation Center (DCC), it follows on the heels of a previous work that listed national research data policies.

This latest companion piece takes that work several steps further, analysing the types of policies in place, their processes of creation, and some of their details. Included in the study are the 28 EU member states, as well as countries from the European Research Area, including Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland.

“The last study attempting this kind of analysis was released in 2013, and much has changed since then,” said Martin Donnelly from DCC. “The level of insight it provides will be invaluable as countries throughout Europe continue to develop and evolve their Open Data and Open Science policies.”

Among the report’s most striking findings: 11 of the 28 European Union member states, as well as Norway and Switzerland, have national, research data-related policies in place. Of these, all were implemented in the past eight years, with most having taken effect recently. In about half of the countries, research data is covered under the same policy that applies to Open Access or Open Science.

For more details, download a free copy of the report."

Australia's National Science Statement 2017

"Open access to research data and findings improves the return on investment in science through increased use, re‑use and impact of scientific findings. "

http://www.science.gov.au/scienceGov/NationalScienceStatement/index.html

"Data on tap" - Interview with Mark Parsons, RDA Secretary General

The Research Data Alliance is trying to create a world where scientific data flows as freely as electricity. Eleni Courea talks to Mark Parsons, its outgoing chief.

See: https://www.rd-alliance.org/data-tap-interview-mark-parsons-rda-secretary-general

Peer-review activists push psychology journals towards open data

http://www.nature.com/news/peer-review-activists-push-psychology-journals-towards-open-data-1.21549

An editor on the board of a journal published by the prestigious American Psychological Association (APA) has been asked to resign in a controversy over data sharing in peer review.

Open data privacy playbook: a guide for cities

https://cyber.harvard.edu/publications/2017/02/opendataprivacyplaybook

Cities today collect and store a wide range of data that may contain sensitive or identifiable information about residents. As cities embrace open data initiatives, more of this information is available to the public. While releasing data has many important benefits, sharing data comes with inherent risks to individual privacy: released data can reveal information about individuals that would otherwise not be public knowledge. In recent years, open data such as taxi trips, voter registration files, and police records have revealed information that many believe should not be released.

Effective data governance is a prerequisite for successful open data programs. The goal of this document is to codify responsible privacy-protective approaches and processes that could be adopted by cities and other government organizations that are publicly releasing data. Our report is organized around four recommendations:

• Conduct risk-benefit analyses to inform the design and implementation of open data programs. 
• Consider privacy at each stage of the data lifecycle: collect, maintain, release, delete. 
• Develop operational structures and processes that codify privacy management widely throughout the City. 
• Emphasize public engagement and public priorities as essential aspects of data management programs.