Making progress towards Open Access for CGIAR

It has long been acknowledged that there is a veritable treasure trove of agricultural research data, information and knowledge within CGIAR that, if more widely available, could increase the pace of positive impact on the agricultural sector. Recognizing this, CGIAR is actively working towards policies, practices and standards to make that a reality.  While CGIAR remains a complicated system that involves thousands of researchers working for a multitude of Centers and hundreds of partners, we are committed to making this happen.

Open Access for CGIAR is one step closer, now that a draft Open Access policy has been developed and is in wide circulation among Research Centers, Research Programs, donors and partners.  The draft policy lays out a framework for how CGIAR, its Research Programs and its Research Centers would work to make their data and information broadly available.

The CGIAR Open Access Policy also plots a clear timeframe for moving the process forward. An important milestone was reached last week with a meeting held at CGIAR Consortium member Bioversity International  headquarters in Rome, Italy from April 16-18, where the draft policy document was outlined and plans for mainstreaming Open Access for CGIAR were discussed.  A meeting next week in Washington – the G-8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture will be another important forum for discussion with partners and donors.

“We are no longer just talking about the potential for Open Access,” said Piers Bocock, Director of Knowledge Management & Communication at the CGIAR Consortium Office, speaking on the opening day of the annual workshop of the CGIAR Consortium Knowledge Management Community of Practice (KM CoP). “We are now firmly on the path to making it a reality.” “The good news is that the pieces are all in place,” he added. “Now we just need to pull those pieces together through effective policies, incentives and appropriate technology.”

The CGIAR Open Access Policy marks a key step in progress towards CGIAR’s stated goal of embracing Open Access. The draft policy document comes just over a year after the foundation for Open Access was laid when the CGIAR Consortium approved CGIAR Principles on the Management of Intellectual Assets in March 2012.

Broad consultation

The draft CGIAR Open Access Policy, drawn up by the CGIAR Open Access Working Group (OAWG), is now being widely discussed within CGIAR and distributed for comments to donors and partners.

Once feedback from consultations has been taken on board, the revised policy will be reviewed by Consortium Centers’ senior management before a final draft is submitted to the CGIAR Board for approval. The policy is expected to be in place by the summer.  Following policy approval, the next step will be for the OAWG to develop a set of implementation guidelines, with a goal for completion set for June 2014.

CGIAR’s move towards Open Access has strong backing from donors, the Rome meeting heard. As well as requiring open access to be applied to results of the work they fund, a number of donor organizations are offering concrete support. The policy has been heavily influenced by DFID, the World Bank and the Wellcome Trust and takes into account open access guidelines from the OECD and UNESCO.

Last week’s meeting of the CGIAR Knowledge Management Community of Practice meeting brought together members of the CGIAR Consortium, its Research Programs and member Centers, who will need to collaboratively work on planning and developing the open access process. The implementation phase, starting with the development of implementation guidelines, will put in place practical tools to make the process run more smoothly. These will include performance management systems, rewards and incentives. Training will be a critical part of the process.

Supporting mechanisms

The KM CoP meeting heard progress reports on the CGIAR Consortium Office’s Knowledge Management Strategy and from Working Groups established at a workshop on Data and Knowledge Management (D&KM), held in September 2012. Included in the progress reports were Concept Notes for a CGIAR Knowledge Commons – standards, practices and a platform to make CGIAR data and research open and harvestable for CGIAR, its partners, and the world; and a Spatial Data Commons – which would make all CGIAR spatial data open and accessible.

Given the breadth and diversity of the CGIAR network, flexibility will be important, participants agreed. They recommended that focus should be on flexible formats for gathering information, rather than trying to set up a standardized system.

“What is important is that information is harvestable,” said Luz Marina Alvaré of the International Food Policy Research Institute, a member of the CGIAR Consortium, presenting a progress report on the CGIAR Open Knowledge Commons working group. “Not all the Centers should have to use the same system, but they must use standards so that anyone, anywhere, can see our research.”

Offering free and open access to all CGIAR’s research results and development activities will take time to put into practice, the meeting heard.

“It will be a case of opening access rather than establishing Open Access overnight,” said Bocock. “But the exciting thing is that we are getting closer and closer. There is no turning back now.”

Photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT

More information:

CGIAR Opening Access; moving from piecemeal to panoramic (CGIAR.org)
Opening Access to Agriculture Research Products: The CGIAR Experience (CGIAR.org)
A roadmap for moving CGIAR towards open access: A major milestone (CGIAR.org)
Moving CGIAR towards open access (CGIAR.org)
G-8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture (April 29-30, 2013 event website)
Insights into researcher behavior: attitudes towards opening access (CGIAR.org)
Working together to better manage CGIAR intellectual assets (CGIAR.org)
Triple A Framework (ICT-KM archive)