Open Science, Open Innovation and Open to the World
In summer 2015 EU Commissioner Carlos Moedas responsible for "Research, Science and Innovation" presented the strategic priorities of his political agenda: "Open science, Open innovation, Open to the world".
Open Science
"Open Science" refers to the possibilities and implications of digital/ web-based technologies in research with the aim of transforming the entire research process to make it more open, replicable and re-usable. This development offers new possibilities for the production and application of scientific knowledge in the research sector itself as well as in business and society as research results become reproducible and accessible for innovation processes. "Open Science" refers to a broad sphere of activities including open access to publications and the re-use of research data. Additionally, further development of scientific evaluation systems, support of professional expertise in dealing with research data and involvement of society in the research process (Citizen Science) are part of these activities.
- Open Access: An open science system particularly relies on open access to scientific knowledge (scientific publications) and research data. The European Commission supports this by making open access publication mandatory in projects funded by Horizon 2020 and by adopting the general approach to make research data generated in Horizon 2020-projects and relevant for publications available for further use (with the possibility to opt out).
- European Open Science Cloud: One major "Open Science"-project of the European Commission is about establishing a European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) as an important basis to effectively exploit the possibilities of digitalisation in the research area. Primarily, this refers to the integration of (existing) European research data infrastructures with the aim to support exchange and (remote) analysis of research data in so called virtual research environments. The EOSC is part of the EU Commission’s European Cloud Initiative which also focuses on the expansion of high-performance computer facilities and corresponding data networks and storage systems.
- Open Science Policy Platform: To coordinate the "Open Science"-activities with the involved actors form science and society in May 2016 the EU Commission established an Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP) with members from different interest groups (e. g. scientific organisations, universities, libraries, publishers).