|
Data Sharing Task Force prepares for 2010 Ministerial
The November 2007 Cape Town Declaration called on GEO to reach a consensus at its 2010 Ministerial Summit on the practical steps for implementing the GEO Data Sharing Principles. To advance towards this goal, the GEO Data Sharing Task Team produced draft guidelines on how to implement the principles. Tthe GEO Data Sharing Task Force has now been established to take this issue forward.
The Task Force held its first meeting in May in Geneva. It consists primarily of representatives nominated by their governments. The Task Force co-chairs are from China, the European Commission, India, Japan, and the US, together with a non-governmental representative from the earlier Task Team.
At the May meeting, the Task Force focused on preparing its draft terms of reference. These include the following objectives: to submit an updated draft of the Implementation Guidelines for the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles to the GEO-VI Plenary in November 2009; to interact with GEO Committees and Task Teams on their data-sharing opportunities and needs; to promote the harmonization of the various existing data-sharing procedures with the GEO Data Sharing Principles; to prepare an action plan for implementing the Data Sharing Principles and developing working procedures for data sharing within GEOSS; to produce documentation to support the adoption of the Implementation Guidelines and the action plan by the 2010 GEO Ministerial Summit; and to consider possible recommendations for improving the principles for data sharing within GEOSS.
The Data Sharing Principles, as set out in the GEOSS 10-year Implementation Plan, call for:
- The full and open exchange of data, metadata, and products shared within GEOSS, recognizing relevant international instruments and national policies;
- Data, metadata and products to be shared at minimum time delay and minimum cost; and
- The use of data for research and education should be free of charge, or at the cost of reproduction.
|
