The Open Science Information Demonstrator (OSID): A project to build a demonstrator website that enables the general public to explore UK science funding and outcomes. It forms part of the larger project Science, Trust, and Public Engagement.
Problems and Purpose
The Open Science Information Demonstrator is part of the larger Sciencewise project "Science, Trust & Public Engagement". The mini project is focusing on climate science as the demonstrator data set, and aims to provide ideas for how transparency approaches might help provide better information on science activities, while also, potentially, helping empower citizens to engage with science. [1]
The project aims are:
- To build a demonstrator (prototype) website to help the general public get a better understanding of UK science research spending in the field of climate science
- To identify stakeholders and interact with them
- To use the NERC’s “Grants on the web” website as a data source
- To use publications as a metric
- To explore machine readable sources and then present other metrics and outcomes such as links to databases and websites, stories in the media and so on
- The model for demonstrator website might be like www.wheredoesmymoneygo.org, but will have other visualisation tools, for example to geo-locate authors and grant holders, and will reference other projects visualising research spending
The project consisted of two phases, of which the available report addresses progress on phase 1 - interviews with stakeholders, seeking to establish their interest in making information about the funding of research available to the public.
Background History and Context
Science, Trust, and Public Engagement
The year 2000 saw publication of the Phillips Inquiry into the BSE (mad cow disease) crisis, the House of Lords report on Science and Society, and the establishment of public commissions on human genetics and agricultural biotechnology. The Public Understanding of Science approach was increasingly complemented by Public Engagement in Science, and in 2005, Sciencewise-ERC was created as a systematic new approach to upstream public involvement – using public dialogue to inform policy that involves significant elements of science and technology, from investment in innovation to regulation of risk.
Science, Trust, and Public Engagement explores future pathways to good governance, seeking to review key lessons about the governance of science, emerging technology and innovation policy since 2000. The Open Science Information Demonstrator initiative will do this by interviewing institutions and champions of public dialogue, accountability and social responsibility (Strand 1) while also supporting a series of action learning mini projects on emerging ways to embed societal accountability in policy (Strand 2).
Strand 2
A potential second phase of the Open Science Information Demonstrator project (to be rolled out after and alongside the commissioning of Strand One) will work with government departments and core partners to develop action research and public engagement experiments that build on contacts and learning from Strand One. Match funded grants may be made available directly to these departments and organisations to support them with their learning or experiment. These further stages might include:
- Co-designing and (if time allows) testing a range of new or evolved public engagement mechanisms (some within government institutions) that respond to specific opportunities / challenges in governance and regulation, and have strong potential value (in terms of better policy, feasibility, efficacy, value of public investment, accountability and trust).
- Making practical recommendations that build on the results, and encouraging ongoing reflection and learning to improve practice, targeted at key governance stakeholders
Strand Two will aim to commission several action research or pathfinder type mechanisms for building public engagement and opinions into the heart of governance and decision making (as identified and designed in Strand One). It will explore/pilot concrete examples and processes of public engagement.
This project represents one of two mini projects conducted within this larger project [2]
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The project is supported by the JISC (as an extension to its Open Bibliography project and relating to other areas of activity such as the Open Citations project and work to encourage better reuse of research data and research information) and partly funded by Sciencewise-ERC (as a part of its Science, Trust and Public Engagement project).
JISC inspires UK colleges and universities in the innovative use of digital technologies.
Part of the Department of Chemistry at Cambridge University, the Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics (UCMI) is a leader on molecular informatics.
Open Knowledge Foundation is a not-for-profit organization promoting open knowledge. [2]
Sciencewise-ERC is a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills funded programme to bring scientists, government and the public together to explore the impact of science and technology in our lives. It helps Government departments and agencies commission and use public dialogue to inform policy making, involving science and technology issues. Its core aim is to develop the capacity of Government to carry out good dialogue, to gather and disseminate good practice, have successful two-way communications with the public and other stakeholders, and to embed the principles of good dialogue into internal Government processes.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
The phase's report describes the completion of 15 interviews of 20 had been completed, representing 15 research funding organisations.
Methods and Tools Used
Phase 1 of Open Science Information Demonstrator, involved interviews with stakeholders.
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
The Open Science Information Demonstrator initiative consisted of two phases,
Phase 1 consists of stakeholder and other feedback, through interviews and the development of basic features of the OSID website, such as display and visualising details.
Four findings from the first phase's stakeholder interactions are:
- a wide consensus on the need for transparency of spending data;
- the public do want to know how research will affect their lives;
- the demonstrator should be an enjoyable system to use; and
- it should be made possible for people to explore the data by drill-down navigation.
The primary goals for Phase 2 are to:
- Take datasets identified in Phase 1 and relate them to datasets such as bibliographic
- Produce a demonstrator website which allows visualisation of the datasets and drill-down across the datasets to investigate outcomes
- Gain further feedback from a select group of users on the potential of the demonstrator as a tool for public engagement
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
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Analysis and Lessons Learned
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See Also
Reviewing Public Engagement on Science Policy (Science, Trust, and Public Engagement Strand 1)
Science, Trust & Public Engagement: Genomics, Genetics and Redesign of the Human Genetics Commission
References
[1] Murray-Rust (2011) “Open Science Information Demonstrator: Project Phase 1 report to Sciencewise-ERC and JISC” March 2011
[2] (2017) “Open data and climate science transparency” [ONLINE] Available at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20170110132930...