Earth Observations and the Importance of Broad, Open Data Sharing Policies
Creators: name: Ryan, Barbara J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Open Data, policies, sharing, GEO

description: Access to greater knowledge has always been a key tenet of research libraries, and it is this tenet that underpins the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) advocacy for broad, open data policies and practices. While substantial strides have been made in the last decade, there is still much room for improvement globally. Forging a stronger alliance between our respective communities could substantially advance the shared goal of access to greater knowledge. GEO is a voluntary partnership of governments and organisations that was created following the first World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002) in order to better inform environmental decision-making with the use of Earth observations. Today, in 2016, GEO is comprised of 102 governments and 95 participating organisations with a mandate for, and/or interest in the use of Earth observations. Together, this GEO community is building a Global Earth Observation System of System (GEOSS) that links Earth observation resources world-wide across a number of Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs). These SBAs include Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sustainability, Disaster Resilience, Energy and Mineral Resources Management, Food Security, Infrastructure and Transportation Management, Public Health Surveillance, Sustainable Urban Development and Water Resources Management. While broad, open data policies and practices have always been a key objective of GEO, efforts have redoubled in what is now GEO’s second decade. Each of the SBAs identified above rely on a myriad of Earth observations collected by organisations and entities too numerous to count. Unless these organisations and entities adopt more broad, open data policies, the information collected by each is sub-optimised. In partnership with the International Council for Science (ICSU) Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA), GEO recently (2015) developed a paper titled, ‘The Value of Open Data Sharing’, which identifies the benefits and challenges associated with broader sharing of Earth observations. Topics discussed within the paper include: economic growth, social welfare, research and innovation, education, and effective governance and policy-making. The presentation at the LIBER 2016 Conference will explore each of these in more detail. <strong>Barbara J. Ryan</strong> is Secretariat Director of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) located in Geneva, Switzerland. In this capacity, she leads the Secretariat in coordinating the activities of 101 Member States, the European Commission and 92 Participating Organisations that are striving to integrate Earth observations so that informed decisions can be made across eight Societal Benefit Areas, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sustainability, Disaster Resilience, Energy and Mineral Resources Management, Food Security, Infrastructure &amp; Transportation Management, Public Health Surveillance, Sustainable Urban Development and Water Resources Management. Before becoming GEO Director in July 2012, she served as Director of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Space Programme with responsibility for coordinating space-based observations to meet the needs of WMO Members in the topical areas of weather, water, climate and related natural disasters. Before joining WMO in October 2008, she was the Associate Director for Geography at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston, Virginia, where she had responsibility for the Landsat, remote sensing, geography and civilian mapping programs of the agency. It was under her leadership that implementation of the Landsat data policy was reformed to release all data over the internet at no additional cost to the user — an action that has resulted in the global release of more than 25 million Landsat scenes to date. She holds a Bachelor´s degree in Geology from the State University of New York at Cortland, a Master´s degree in Geography from the University of Denver, and a Master´s degree in Civil Engineering from Stanford University. She was recently awarded an an honorary doctorate of science degree from the State University of New York at Cortland.