1. Report of the Data Sharing Task Force Alan Edwards Co-chair/European Commission On behalf of the Data Sharing Task Force 18th Meeting of the GEO Executive Committee Geneva, Switzerland March 2010 1

2. GEOSS Data Sharing Principles
The societal benefits of Earth observations cannot be achieved without data sharing.
There will be full and open exchange of data, metadata and products shared within GEOSS, recognizing relevant international instruments and national policies and legislation.
All shared data, metadata and products will be made available with minimum time delay and at minimum cost.
All shared data, metadata and products being free of charge or no more than cost of reproduction will be encouraged for research and education.
See slide text 2

3. Rationale for Data Sharing Task Force
To reinforce the principle of data sharing within the GEOSS, the 2007 Cape Town Ministerial Summit recognised that:
“The success of GEOSS will depend on a commitment by all GEO partners to work together to ensure timely, global and open access to data and products”.
Further:
“We support the establishment of a process with the objective to reach a consensus on the implementation of the Data Sharing Principles for GEOSS to be presented to the next GEO Ministerial Summit.”
The 2008 GEO-V Plenary in Bucharest then established the Data Sharing Task Force (DSTF).

4. DSTF Terms of Reference: Objectives
Submit an updated draft of Implementation Guidelines for the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles to Plenary 2009.
Accepted by the GEO-VI Plenary
Promoting implementation of the principle of full and open exchange of data according to GEOSS Data Sharing Principles (DSP).
Encouraging GEOSS users to reuse and re-disseminate shared data, metadata and products.
Ensuring consistency in the implementation of the GEOSS DSP with relevant international instruments and national policies and legislation.
Implement pricing policies consistent with GEOSS DSP.
Reducing time delays for making data available through GEOSS.
Promoting research & education uses of GEOSS data, metadata and products.

5. DSTF Terms of Reference: Objectives
Prepare an Action Plan to implement the Data Sharing Principles and to enable the development of working procedures for data sharing within GEOSS.
Produce documentation (including assessments on the actions to be taken; some representative costs and benefits; and, responsibilities for the proposed data sharing processes) to support adoption of the Implementation Guidelines and the Action Plan by the 2010 GEO Ministerial Summit.

6. DSTF Terms of Reference: Objectives
Interact with GEO Committees and Task Teams on their data sharing opportunities and needs and work to promote harmonization of data sharing procedures consistent with the Data Sharing Principles.
Consider possible recommendations to improve the principles for data sharing within GEOSS.

7. DSTF Docs to GEO EXCOM 22-23 March
Initial draft Action Plan for Data Sharing within GEOSS
Outline of the Supporting Documents, including Case Studies
Draft of a proposed Letter to Ministers inviting contributions to the GEOSS Data CORE

8. Action Plan - Current Framework
Executive Summary
Main body of the Action Plan
Introduction – why share data fully and openly?
Background – what is the status of GEOSS data sharing today?
Vision – where do we want to be and by when?
What are the benefits of implementing this vision?
What are the barriers to implementing this vision?
What actions need to be taken?
[Issues not fully addressed]
slide 8

9. Action Plan - Current Framework
Annexes: Supporting Documents
Implementation Guidelines for the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles (accepted by Plenary-VI)
Benefits of Implementing the Data Sharing Principles
Considerations for the GEO Community
Considerations Arising from the Data Sharing Action Plan for the GCI
Case Studies
Glossary

10. Action Plan - Current Framework
Case Studies:
ARGO Floats
ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model
CBERS Satellite Imagery
Forest Carbon Tracking
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
International Charter for Space and Major Disasters
International Polar Year
Landsat
[Possibly a limiting case study]

11. Proposed Data Sharing Action Plan for GEO
(A) builds upon the crucial concept of full and open exchange and on the Guidelines accepted by the GEO Plenary, which states that data, metadata and products made available through the GEOSS are made accessible with minimal time delay and with as few restrictions as possible, on a non-discriminatory basis, at minimum cost for no more than the cost of reproduction and distribution; (B) notes that the achievement of full and open exchange of and access to key datasets will require actions by GEO collectively and by Members and Participating Organizations individually, and by GEOSS tasks and cross-cutting activities;

12. Proposed Data Sharing Action Plan for GEO
(C) specifies actions to be pursued by:
- GEO collectively to:
Create the GEOSS Data Collection of Open Resources for Everyone (GEOSS Data CORE) to address GEO Societal Benefit Areas.
The GEOSS Data CORE is a distributed pool of documented datasets, contributed by the GEO community on the basis of full and open unrestricted access and at no more than the cost of reproduction and distribution.

13. Proposed Data Sharing Action Plan for GEO
(C) specifies actions to be pursued by:
- GEO collectively to:
Establish a Task Force within GEO to:
Monitor the use and impact of resources made available with full and open access.
Promote the efficacy of the Data Sharing Principles in delivering societal benefits.
Evaluate the outcomes of this Action Plan and recommend further actions.

14. Proposed Data Sharing Action Plan for GEO
(C) specifies actions to be pursued by:
- GEO collectively to:
Maintain the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) as the architectural framework essential to implementing the Data Sharing Principles.
Integrate implementation of the Data Sharing Principles, as appropriate, into the responsibilities of GEO committees and activities of GEOSS tasks.

15. Proposed Data Sharing Action Plan for GEO
(C) specifies actions to be pursued by:
- GEO Members to:
Take leadership to establish national coordinating mechanisms to promote and monitor engagement with the implementation of the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles and provide feedback to GEO.
Develop flexible policy frameworks to ensure that a more open data environment is implemented.

16. Proposed Data Sharing Action Plan for GEO
(C) specifies actions to be pursued by:
- GEO Members & Participating Organizations to:
Maximise the number of documented datasets made available on the basis of full and open access.
Promote with data providers within their territories the benefits of full and open access to data.

17. Issues Not Yet Fully Addressed
Handling data registered in the GCI with restrictions
The Implementation Guidelines confirm that:
“GEO welcomes all data contributions into the GEOSS. When registering data in GEOSS, the contributor should present any restrictions arising from relevant international instruments and national policies and legislation, and the duration of each restriction, that is applicable to the exchange of the data, metadata, and products submitted.”
GEO should therefore enable data users to be made aware of any restrictions on data contributed by data providers.
Some GEO Members state that GEO must ensure that any restrictions are strictly adhered to by users.
Other Members state that GEO cannot and should not be put in the position of ensuring or policing data provider restrictions. The GCI, however, could send a user back to the data provider to access its data and comply with any restrictions.

18. Issues Not Yet Fully Addressed
Reuse/re-distribution and data tagging
Some restrictions on re-distribution, reuse and copying of data are legally derived from copyright.
In order to “police” any possible infringement of a data provider’s IPR / copyrights, should the GEO facilitate or introduce a “data tagging” mechanism into the GCI? And if so, how far should this go and how sophisticated should it be?
Whilst it is the responsibility of data providers to adopt data tagging if they wish, does GEO become legally responsible if GEO facilitates it, and legally liable for failed tagging?" 
Data tagging may also impact citation and attribution of data sources, a concept the DSTF fully endorses. How would this work?

19. Issues Not Yet Fully Addressed
Licenses
There is currently no consensus within the DSTF on the use or advantages of licensing.
There is consensus that providing metadata information that assigns categories to data and products may be useful, e.g.:
Full and open with no restrictions
Full and open with attribution requirements
Full and open with attribution and non-commercial use requirements
Re-distribution restrictions
Price above the cost of reproduction and distribution (or marginal cost of fulfilling the user request)
Re-distribution restrictions and price above reproduction and distribution
If GEO were to facilitate license arrangements between and amongst GEO Members and Pos, would this place GEO in a position of legal responsibility for enforcing these licenses? 

20. Draft DSTF Letter from “GEO” to Ministerial Summit
To launch the GEOSS Data CORE, the DSTF would propose that a letter be sent to GEO Ministers asking that in the crucial area of data sharing, Ministers at Beijing show strong political leadership and demonstrate that they are willing to make a real difference, by taking immediate and concrete action.
In the proposed letter, Ministers are invited to announce their contributions to the GEOSS Data CORE in advance of, or at the Beijing GEO Ministerial Summit.
Note, if the principle of sending this letter is accepted, the issue of the “mechanics” of issuing this letter have to be addressed in conjunction with the Ministerial Task Force.

21. DSTF 2010 Roadmap for the Action Plan
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
Action plan
15/3
V 1.1 AP
22-23/3
EXCOM debate
23/4
V1.2 AP
(Based upon EXCOM feedback)
1/5
V1.3 AP
+ 1st draft of Supporting documents
sent to Committees and GEO Community
Comments by 31 May.
End June
V.1.4. AP to EXCOM
Refine and update based upon feedback from
co-located committee meetings and wider GEO Community
Mid-July EXCOM
Discussion
Final revision of Action Plan and the Supporting documents
AP and Supporting Docs to Plenary
Action plan – including Executive Summary and Supporting Docs discussed at GEO-VII and the 2010 GEO Ministerial
GEO Consultation
GEO Consultation
Committee
Meetings
GEO
Ministerial
Executive Committee

22. Conclusions
Initial drafts of the Data Sharing Action Plan documents are presented to the GEO Executive Committee, March, for review and guidance.
A full consultation with the GEO Community, including GEO Committees and Task Leads, will take place in May, following the release, by 1 May, of an updated Action Plan and the complete set of Supporting Documents.
Based upon the feedback from the GEO Community, updated versions of the Action Plan and Supporting Documents will then be prepared for the July meeting of EXCOM.
slide 22

23. DSTF Action Plan Introduction – why share data fully & openly?
Decision makers and managers must have access to the information they need, when they need, and in format they can use
Observing, modelling and understanding are the keys to good decision making
Decision makers around the world need a global, coordinated, comprehensive and sustained environmental information system that supports action to be taken whenever necessary

24. DSTF Action Plan
Background – what is the status of GEOSS data sharing today?
DSP set out by 10yr Implementation Plan
Role of DA-06-01
Cape Town Ministerial Summit in 2007 reinforced DSP
DSTF established at GEO-V Plenary
ToR of the DSTF to submit IG and AP

25. DSTF Action Plan Vision – where do we want to be & by when?
in support of GEOSS Strategic Targets, before 2015 GEO aims to:
Provide a shared, easily accessible, timely, sustained stream of comprehensive data of documented quality, as well as metadata and information products, for informed decision-making
The vision set out in the GEOSS Strategic Targets will, by 2015:
Increase use of observations through advances in all aspects of life-cycle data management, integration, and data recovery and conversion.
Remove important data management deficiencies.
Enhance information extraction from historical, current and future source data.
Access to a core set of essential environmental observations and information products, supported by adequate metadata, by users across all GEOSS Societal Benefit Areas in accordance with the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles.

26. DSTF Action Plan What are the Benefits of implementing this vision?
Sharing data through GEOSS can lead to potential improvements in areas such as health, environment, poverty, and other public-interest priorities.
Contribution toward providing transparency, leading to increased societal trust in the scientific findings on climate change
Sharing data within GEOSS is also expected to contribute to improving market competition (e.g. private sector’s positive reaction to INSPIRE)
The GEOSS data sharing philosophy of "full and open exchange" is increasingly accepted as providing added economic and social value to the data.
The potential benefits of exchanging data and information freely through GEOSS are expected to be significant.
Improving data access and sharing should significantly increase data utilization by reducing the cost and reuse restrictions for the users. This should create innovative opportunities for new and existing players in the information sector to open and expand their activities.

27. DSTF Action Plan What are the Barriers to implementing this vision?
Data providers have the perception that the implementation of the full and open exchange of data, metadata and products in GEOSS could pose challenges to their development, resulting in limited revenue
Legal frameworks in different countries also need to be adapted in order to remove legal barriers that could slow the implementation of the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles  principle of full and open access is currently inconsistent with many national policies
different disciplines, sectors and countries have different legal and socio-cultural approaches to data sharing
The GCI must therefore provide efficient and effective support to the implementation of the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles  long-term operation of GCI resources needed

28. DSTF Action Plan – Actions to be taken
GEO collectively
GEO MS
GEO MS and PO
1. Create the GEOSS Data Collection of Open Resources for Everyone (GEOSS Data CORE) to address GEO Societal Benefit Areas.
2. Establish a Task Force within GEO to:
Monitor the use and impact of resources made available with full and open access.
Promote the efficacy of the DSP in delivering societal benefits.
Evaluate the outcomes of this Action Plan and recommend further actions.
3. Maintain the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) as the architectural framework essential to implementing the Data Sharing Principles.
4. Integrate implementation of the Data Sharing Principles, as appropriate, into the responsibilities of GEO committees and activities of GEOSS tasks.
5. Take leadership to establish national coordinating mechanisms to promote and monitor engagement with the implementation of the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles and provide feedback to GEO.
6. Develop flexible policy frameworks to ensure that a more open data environment is implemented.
7. Maximise the number of documented datasets made available on the basis of full and open access.
8. Promote with data providers within their territories the benefits of full and open access to data.