52°North and Open Science? Nothing new here, but we’re not interested in a casual relationship. We want to make it official. Therefore, this week’s blog post isn’t about how we address a particular challenge, it’s about making a formal commitment to Open Science practices! To show our dedication, we are signing the NFDI4Earth FAIRness and Openness Commitment.

The NFDI4Earth FAIRness and Openness Commitment aims to promote the implementation of open practices and is composed of twelve items. Signing this commitment publicly signals agreement with the goals, mission, and products of NFDI4Earth.

In the following paragraphs, we will elaborate on 52°North’s commitment to the twelve items.

(1) Commit to the mission of NFDI in bringing together research communities to provide data for the common good, and the role of NFDI4Earth as a facilitator of sustainable, collaboratively developed solutions in Earth System Sciences.

We’re proud that the cooperation between NFDI4Earth and 52°North spans several years. An important milestone was the release of the OneStop4All, a search user interface increasing the findability and accessibility of earth system science resources such as data, software, and educational resources. Hence, we commit to the mission of both NFDI and NFDI4Earth, while also extending our cross-disciplinary integration across various domains through our spatial information systems.

(2) Support and uphold, where appropriate and possible, the principles and values outlined in existing Open Science declarations and statements.

As outlined in a recent post, Open Science services are part of 52°North’s portfolio . We actively monitor relevant Open Science declarations and statements such as GEO’s statement on open knowledge and adhere to the principles and values whenever possible.

(3) Be familiar with relevant data laws and acts, especially those related to geospatial data, in both national and European jurisdictions. These laws facilitate data sharing at both national and international levels.

We regularly inform our staff of relevant data laws and regulations. Given recent developments in AI, we see this as an essential aspect of our work. Moreover, we stay well-informed about regulations for data sharing, such as High-value datasets, and policies created by Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE).

(4) Give credit to all sources underlying our research findings and, whenever possible, credit is given through proper citations.

Seeing this as good scientific practice, we always cite the foundational work (including research data, software, publications, educational resources, etc.) that build the basis for our deliverables.

(5) Choose to publish Earth System Sciences data in Earth System Sciences domain repositories and other suitable research infrastructures that meet all four aspects of FAIR principles and consider the specific characteristics of Earth System Sciences data.

The discovery of such domain repositories is greatly facilitated by the OneStop4All’s repository guide. We will use and promote this feature in our projects and publish in relevant repositories.

(6)  Strengthen FAIR and Open Data practices by supporting educational networks, robust training programs, and the production of educational materials that promote transparency and accessibility of research outputs.

As mentioned in a recent post, Open Science capacity building is a service we already deliver and plan to extend in the future. We have also been offering seminars and workshops promoting the use of open standards and software at universities and research organizations for several years.

(7) Adopt Data Management Plans as important tools for all research projects. These plans are invaluable for strategically planning data documentation, publication, and collaboratively monitoring data management activities. We seek and consider expert curation and guidance for them.

We will regularly include Data Management Plans in funding proposals to demonstrate solid scientific practice and a well-thought-out strategy for sustainable data management.

(8) Where possible, use open and permissive data and software licences that legally enable the envisioned free and open sharing of Earth System Sciences data.

Most of our work centers around software development and we’re keen to release it, whenever possible, under open licensing models (such as the Apache License 2.0) as stated on our homepage.

(9) Support and align scientific work with governing bodies and organizations that advance the underlying causes of this commitment.

Rather than working in isolation, we strive to align and integrate our work with broader initiatives such as the European Open Science Cloud, NFDI and GEO.

(10) Recognize the vital role that Earth System Sciences domain repositories and their curation services play in achieving and preserving the highest possible FAIRness and Openness in the Earth System Sciences. As researchers, institutions, and funding agencies, we endeavour to ensure the sustainability of these repositories and other relevant research infrastructures.

We contribute to ensuring the sustainability of the domain repositories by promoting their use through, for instance, the OneStop4All in our projects.

(11) Collaborate with data curators and repository managers and leverage their expertise to make Earth System Sciences research outputs transparent, machine-readable, interoperable, and re-usable in the long term. They use diverse approaches, such as the NFDI4Earth Label, to document and advance interoperability across data repositories.

Working closely with data curators and repository managers is important, particularly when it comes to providing high-quality metadata, which is key to fulfilling the FAIR principles. Beyond supporting this effort, we actively engage with OGC bodies to improve open access and machine readability of both data and metadata.

(12) Adhere to and contribute to international standards for harmoniing Earth System Sciences data, metadata, data quality, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Support their implementation and development across research infrastructures, as this is crucial for effective interdisciplinary research and advancements in novel analysis methods such as Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning (AI & ML). 

Interoperability has been one of 52°North’s core topics since day one, twenty years ago. With the advent of (agent-based) AI, ensuring transparency and machine-readability is more important than ever, and we regularly contribute to OGC initiatives.

So, this looks like a handshake between 52°North and the NFDI4Earth FAIRness and Openness Commitment! Fortunately, this commitment doesn’t require us to make any drastic changes to our internal workflows. It does, however, raise the awareness of the importance of adhering to FAIR and open principles. Do you also see the importance of this commitment? Are you ready to sign it, too?