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OPEN SCIENCE Movement in Asia and the Pacific Region
On September 16, 2019 UNESCO Office Jakarta organized the 鈥淩egional Multi-Stakeholders Workshop on Open Science for Networked Societies-4th Industrial Revolution and SDGs in Asia and the Pacific鈥 in conjunction with 鈥楽cience to Enable and Empower Asia Pacific for SDGs 2鈥 regional meeting held from September 17 to 19, 2019. This regional workshop on open science aimed to assess ongoing regional initiatives on the promotion of open science; and, to examine current and potential challenges, risks and opportunities in implementing open science in Asia and the Pacific region. This is one of the most diverse regions with technology and innovation global leaders such as Japan, South Korea, China and LDCs such as Timor-Leste and SIDS in the Pacific.
To ensure holistic and inclusive discussions, 26 participants (9 women and 17 men) from 12 countries and regional and international bodies (3 UNESCO Category 2 Centres, International Science Council, National Academy of Science and The Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia) were invited from national and regional academic and research institutions, government agencies, publishing industry, research funding agencies, and private sector. The participants shared ongoing initiatives to promote open science in their institutions and countries. Most of these initiatives are multilevel. Some countries have established platforms to enhance big data management and sharing among organizations. Also, collaborative projects are being promoted to enhance capacity building and knowledge transfer and South-South Collaboration.
The participants identified potential risks, challenges as well as the opportunities that are likely to arise in the promotion of open science. It was emphasised that these risks and challenges could hinder open science at the service of society. The participants also identified the needs for resources (soft and hard) to actualize open science in Asia and the Pacific region within the recommendations especially on development of open science policy and legal and regulatory frameworks in publication, open access, , new evaluation metrics and monitoring system of scientists and researchers, and new funding mechanism to give incentives for Open Science.
Further information: a.sugiura@unesco.org ; i.khodeli@unesco.org
