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 Information
23 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair
24 A Contractually Reconstructed Research Commons for Scientific Data: International Considerations
25 The Open-Source Paradigm and the Production of Scientific Information: A Future Vision and Implications for Developing Countries
26 New and Changing Scientific Publication Practices Due to Open-Access Publication Initiatives
27 Overview of Open-Access and Public-Commons Initiatives in the United States
Session 6: Examples of New Initiatives in Developing Countries 28 Introductory Remarks by Session Chair
29 Overview of Initiatives in the Developing World
30 Open-Source Geographic Information Systems Software: Myths and Realities
31 Open-Access Research and the Public Domain in South African Universities: The Public Knowledge Project’s Open Journal Systems
32 The Public Knowledge Project’s Open Journal Systems
33 Metadata Clearinghouse and Open Access to Geographic Data in Namibia
34 Open-Access Initiatives in India
35 Closing Remarks by Symposium Chair
Appendix A: Symposium Agenda
Appendix B: Biographical Summaries of Symposium Speakers and Steering Committee Members
Appendix C: Symposium Attendees
Appendix D: Acronyms and Initialisms