Open Science, Data Sharing, and Solidarity: Who Benefits?

When: Wednesday, 14 July 2021, 15:30-16:55 (CET) / 9:30-10:55 (GMT-4). Where: online. Plenary debate at the ISHPSSB Biennial Meeting 2021.

Research, scientific progress, and innovation are increasingly contingent on access to large quantities of data. Owing in part to the value of this data, life scientists are encouraged —and often required as a condition of funding— to share their data. The ‘open science’ movement has thus gained momentum and fosters the sharing of personal data, datasets, and research results. In such a context, research participants are encouraged to consent to the sharing of their genetic materials on the basis of solidarity (understood as support for a greater good), and researchers are encouraged to share their data on the basis that it can maximize the use of a valuable resource, and also lead to more reproducible science. It thus seems commonsensical that in our roles as citizens, patients, and researchers, we participate and share data on the basis of solidarity and the public interest.

Questions must nevertheless be asked about the benefits from this wide sharing of data. What are the public benefits that come with this public interest in data sharing? In a deeply unequal world, are these benefits globally felt, or are such benefits limited to certain socio-economic groups? What impact does open science have on research participants themselves and the communities they come from? How does open science affect researchers and their practices, particularly those coming from less well-resourced networks and institutions?

On the 25th anniversary of the Bermuda Principles on DNA Sequence and Data Sharing (1996), this plenary will consider these and other questions from a diversity of perspectives.

 

Panelists:

Stefano Canali, Calvin Ho, Sabina Leonelli, Matthew Mayernik, Barbara Prainsack, and Ambroise Wonkam

Organizers:

Ciara Staunton and Andrés Barragan

Chair:

Katherine Littler

 

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