Scientific organisations representing over 130 countries have agreed to overhaul existing world data centres and services to create a World Data System, the International Council for Science (ICSU) has announced. The existing networks for collecting, storing and distributing data in many areas of science are seen to be inadequate and not designed to enable the inter-disciplinary research that is necessary to meet major global challenges. These networks must be transformed into a new inter-operable data system and extended around the world and across all areas of science. The General Assembly of ICSU has agreed to take the first strategic steps to establish such a system.
More scientific data and information is now available than at any other time in history and the volume is increasing daily, particularly via the web. Yet the quality, long-term stewardship and availability of this data is largely uncertain and a large amount of valuable scientific data remains inaccessible. Over 50 years ago, ICSU established networks of data centres and services to provide full and open access to scientific data and products for the global community. With advances in technology, it is now time for the existing structures to be integrated into a new expanded system such as the ICSU World Data System.
The expert report recommending the new system and presented to the ICSU General Assembly asserts that there is a need for global federations of professional state of the art data management institutions, working together and exchanging practices. Such federations can provide quality assurance and promote data publishing, providing the backbone for a global virtual library for scientific data. The report concludes that ICSU itself can play a leading role by restructuring its own data bodies.
ICSU will be implementing the recommendations in the report over the next three years. The report and more information on the General Assembly are available online at www.icsu.org/3_mediacentre/GA_29.html.
