Speakers Bio & Abstract

Biography
Simon Hodson has been Executive Director of CODATA since August 2013. CODATA exists to promote international collaboration for open scientific data. He sits on numerous project Steering Boards and strategic Working Groups in the area of research data. These include the GEO Data Sharing Working Group, the GEO Data Management Principles Task Force and the Scientific Advisory Board of CESSDA, the European data infrastructure for the social sciences. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Dryad Data Repository, a not-for-profit initiative to make the data underlying scientific publications discoverable, freely reusable, and citable. Abstract
CODATA report for GEO on the Value of Open Data SharingThere are many diverse opportunities and benefits to be derived from providing open Earth observation data through GEO for unrestricted use worldwide. More specifically, the Members and Participating Organisations of GEO stand to gain much more than they lose from making their public Earth observation data available on a full and open basis, freely and without reuse restrictions, as promoted by the GEOSS Data-CORE. Such are the findings of the CODATA report on ?The Value of Open Data Sharing?, which was prepared for the GEO-XII Plenary at the request of the GEO Secretariat. The report provides a comprehensive, yet concise, survey of current evidence for the value and benefits of data sharing. It covers evidence of benefits in the spheres of economic, social welfare, research and innovation, education and governance. Considerable evidence has been accumulated to demonstrate that: ? greater returns on public investment may be obtained through open data sharing as opposed to proprietary distribution; ? the economic benefits of open distribution outweigh those of cost recovery; ? the strong political and ethical arguments in favour of public access to publicly funded data mean that there is a widespread social expectation of availability of this resource to the public and to enterprises. Finally, the report provides a framework which will help the GEO community marshal further evidence and case studies to support the mission of promoting free and open sharing of Earth observation data.