Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Data and Information for Science

This symposium, which was held on March 10-11, 2003, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, brought together policy experts and managers from the government and academic sectors in both developed and developing countries to (1) describe the role, value, and limits that the public domain and open access to digital data and information have in the context of international research; (2) identify and analyze the various legal, economic, and technological pressures on the public domain in digital data and information, and their potential effects on international research; and (3) review the existing and proposed approaches for preserving and promoting the public domain and open access to scientific and technical data and information on a global basis, with particular attention to the needs of developing countries.Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• Introduction
  1 Welcome by CODATA President
• 2 Introduction by Symposium Chair
• 3 UNESCO’s Approach to Open-Access and Public-Domain Information
• 4 Science Communication and Public Policy
• Session 1: Legal, Economic, and Technological Framework for Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Data and Information for Science
  5 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair
• 6 Overview of Legal Aspects in the European Union
• 7 Database Protection in Countries of the South
• 8 Economic Overview of Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Scientific and Technical Information
• 9 Scientific Research, Information Flows, and the Impact of Database Protection on Developing Countries
• 10 Information Technology and Data in the Context of Developing Countries
• Session 2: Data and Information in the Public Health Sector
  11 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair
• 12 The Ptolemy Project: Delivering Electronic Health Information in East Africa
• 13 Health Information for Disaster Preparedness in Latin America
• 14 Bioline International and the Journal of Postgraduate Medicine: A Collaborative Model of Open-Access Publishing
• Session 3: Data and Information in the Environmental Sector
  15 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair
• 16 Geospatial Information for Development
• 17 Borders in Cyberspace: Conflicting Government Information Policies and Their Economic Impacts
• 18 Recent Developments in Environmental Data Access Policies in the Peoples’ Republic of China
• Session 4: Basic Sciences and Higher Education
  19 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair
• 20 Information Needs for Basic Research: An African Perspective
• 21 International Transfer of Information in the Physical Sciences
• 22 Access to Scientific Information: The Ukrainian Research and Academic Network
• Session 5: Innovative Models for Public-Domain Production of and Open Access to Scientific and Technical Data and...
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