Biomed Central and Microsoft honour Open Data

Typed and scraped into Arcturus

I am delighted to be able to help BMC with their Open Data award, co-sponsored by Microsoft (see below which I quote in full).

Open data is on everyone’s lips today but go back only 3 and a half years and the term was hardly known (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Open_science_data&oldid=84679322). I felt it was needed and Opened the Wikipedia article to stimulate and concentrate contributions. Now we have Open Data promoted by governments which must surely be a mark of its importance.

When I started in this area I thought it would be trivial – data were facts, facts were non-copyrightable – so all data should be Open and it was only a gentle ignorance of the problem that prevented all data being shared. Maybe it pays to be naive because it has been a hard road. The involvement of the Open Knowledge Foundation and Science Commons has bee n c ritical and this has coincided – about 2 years ago with a sudden flurry of realization among funders that data was critical to the support of science. So it is a idea which has visited many people and organizations simultaneously. People do not have ideas; ideas visit them and some people are more fortunate than others.

So here is the full glory of the BMC/Microsoft awards. Much credit to both and I really look forward to it; and beyond that to the day when the major data resources of the web include Linked Open Scientific Data. (http://blogs.openaccesscentral.com/blogs/bmcblog/entry/introducing_the_open_data_award )

BioMed Central Blog

Friday May 07, 2010

Introducing the Open Data Award

In recognition of the fact that science publishing now goes beyond the traditional journal article, we have teamed up with Microsoft Research and Panton Principles to introduce the Open Data Award as part of our 4th Annual Research Awards. Data sharing, its preservation and re-use, is an increasingly important part of the research and publication process. But there are many challenges associated with openly sharing scientific data, particularly when sharing goes against cultural or community norms. 

The Open Data Award celebrates researchers who have published in any of our 207 journals during 2009 and have demonstrated leadership in the sharing, standardization, publication, or re-use of biomedical research data.

We are honoured that Peter Murray-Rust, Cameron Neylon begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting, Rufus Pollock and John Wilbanks of Panton Principles have agreed to judge the awards along with our in-house Editor, Iain Hrynaszkiewicz, Managing Editor of our special medical journals.

The shortlist will be announced in the coming weeks and the winner will be revealed at the awards ceremony on Thursday, 10 June in London.