[CODATA-international] Multi-Stakeholder Data Bridges: Recording of our live discussion relating to our UN Data Forum Session

Mon Oct 19 08:40:58 EDT 2020

*CODATA held a live panel session in relation to its a pre-recorded session
‘Multi-Stakeholder Data Bridges: making data work for cross-domain grand
challenges’ in this years Virtual UN Data Forum!*

We held a live panel discussion on the session on Friday 16 October and the
recording of the live session is now available below and from the CODATA
Channel on Vimeo <https://vimeo.com/469702557>.

The recording of the pre-recorded session may be viewed in the UN Data
Forum Attendify
<https://ve.attendify.com/index/e19y30/s_e19y30/schedule/9yx2dgHJCUx0XFsM09/9yx6rE0JWGcUiEIChV>
and
may also be viewed here
<https://codata.org/panel-discussion-event-un-data-forum-pre-recorded-session-multi-stakeholder-data-bridges-making-data-work-for-cross-domain-grand-challenges/>
and
on the CODATA Vimeo Channel <https://vimeo.com/465263347>.

Please register for the UN Data Forum, 19-21 October:
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/undataforum/
[image: un data forum image.png]

*About the Pre-Recorded Session and the Live Discussion*
In the session we hear from a number of cross-domain initiatives that
undertaking activities to make data and other resources richer, more
valuable and easier to combine.  The presentations speak about projects and
initiatives doing the essential work to add value to data and information.
This involves detailed technical work, work on semantics and
definitions.  It also requires collaboration across communities, sectors
and domains.  It can sometimes sound difficult and technical, but it is
fundamental and the benefits are enormous.

As part of the ISC’s new Action Plan
<https://council.science/making-data-work-for-grand-challenges/>, CODATA
has been tasked to develop an international collaborative programme, a
Decadal Programme, entitled ‘Making Data Work for Cross Domain Grand
Challenges’
<https://codata.org/initiatives/strategic-programme/decadal-programme/>: we
are currently putting in place the components of this work and the
programme will be launched at the ISC Assembly in 2021.

The premise of the Decadal Programme is that the major scientific and
global challenges of our age (including climate change mitigation and
adaptation, disaster risk reduction, the SDGs, resilient cities and so on)
are necessarily cross domain, cross sectoral.  Addressing these issues
requires many things, including the contribution of science, collaboration
across domains, evidence-based policy and action, and evidence that is
soundly based on data.  Addressing these issues requires - fundamentally -
us to improve our ability to combine data and to combine data from
different sources.  This requires openness.  It requires standardisation
(particularly in relation to terminologies and metadata).  And it requires
collaboration.  The presentations which follow exemplify these attributes.

In the first part of the pre-recorded session <https://vimeo.com/465263347> we
highlighted three examples of extremely valuable work on terminologies and
semantics, applied to issues of the first order of importance.  This
includes presentations on the review of hazard definitions and
classifications that will underpin Sendai reporting; on the activities to
enhance the records of the UN General Assembly and to make the resolutions
machine-readable; and on the application of Internationalized Resource
Identifiers (IRIs) for Sustainable Development Goals to make data and
information relating to the SDGs more accessible and usable.

Building on these examples, the next three presentations charted an arc
from challenges with data and information on the ground to some possible
solutions.  We heard from a cross-domain case study in infectious disease
research through which the scientific community is contributing to enrich
knowledge in relation to SDGs.  Then two presentations will explore the
prospects for cross domain and multi-stakeholder data bridges using
standards-based semantics and metadata.

In the live discussion session <https://vimeo.com/469702557> each presenter
gave a very short presentation, highlighting the key points from their full
presentation in the pre-recorded session.  We held a structured discussion
facilitated by Arofan Gregory, and then took questions from the audience,
chaired by Simon Hodson.

[Embed the Vimeo Recording]

*Speakers*
Virginia Murray, Public Health England and CODATA, ‘UNDRR / ISC Sendai
Hazard Definition and Classification Review’
Remo Lalli, United Nations, ‘Digital Document Management in the United
Nations: a new paradigm’
Cecilia Elizalde, United Nations, ‘Machine-readable resolutions’
Chifundo Kanjala, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,
‘Infectious diseases cross-site data harmonisation in Africa’
Alejandra Gonzalez Beltran, Science and Technology Facilities Council,
‘Data bridges for scientific and official data integration’
Arofan Gregory, a Metadata Consultant working with the Data Documentation
Initiative and with CODATA, ‘DDI-CDI: Data Documentation Initiative-Cross
Domain Integration’ and ‘Summary of the Session Themes’

*Session Description*
Solving today’s global grand challenges demands that both scientific and
policy research embrace new innovations and synergies as well as
multi-stakeholder partnerships. In order to help build the bridges
needed between different data ecosystem domains and communities, the
International Science Council, acting as the global voice for science, and
working with the UN, has determined the need to launch the CODATA
Decadal Programme to build the international communities of practice needed
to increase large-scale usability of data across the scientific and policy
spheres.

Analyses can benefit from cross-cutting techniques not restricted to those
of a single domain. International data used to monitor policy are a
fundamental ingredient in many research projects, both in academia and for
policy research. They facilitate and improve the quality of research on the
ground and can also be improved through the incorporation of data from the
scientific community and elsewhere. Creating a two-way bridge between
scientific research data and official data is vital.

New technologies leverage huge amounts of data, relying on
semantic integration, openness, and the use of machine-learning. They
require a massively increased use of data from both traditional and new
sources. The plethora of formats and semantics, and the paucity
of metadata create barriers to employing the new data-intensive techniques.
We do not need new standards, new classifications, and
new technology approaches, so much as we need to make those we already have
work together effectively through multi-stakeholder partnerships on a broad
scale.
Initial work has started through a series of workshops, projects and case
studies, bringing together experts from diverse communities. The effort is
use-case driven, covering urban resilience, disaster risk reduction,
and infectious disease. These efforts are producing early draft guidelines
– grounded in the FAIR data principles – to help build the communities of
practice for the use of data across domain boundaries. The
FAIR data principles are gaining traction across the
global data ecosystem and being embraced by multiple stakeholders,
including international organizations, public sector, civil society,
academia and the business community.

Building on existing technical standards such as DDI and SDMX, on the
wealth of semantic technologies from the W3C and elsewhere, and on
machine-learning and data science techniques, the Decadal Programme will
bring a cross-disciplinary, trans-community approach to how we manage,
combine and use data. This session will provide an overview of these
efforts, covering data documentation, technology, semantic integration,
dissemination, and other key aspects.

Thanks,
Asha

-- 

___________________________

*TWO WEEKS TO GO! Deadline for Posters and Lightning Talks is 31Oct: *Register
for International Virtual FAIR Convergence Symposium 2020, 30 Nov-4 Dec
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-fair-convergence-symposium-registration-105931185026>
 | Call for posters and lightning talks
<https://conference.codata.org/FAIRconvergence2020/>

*Data-Driven Governance in Sustainable Cities: *New models
for public-private data sharing: CODATA Connect Webinar, 19 Oct
<https://codata.org/initiatives/strategic-programme/codata-connect/webinar-series-smart-and-resilient-cities/webinar-7-data-driven-governance-in-sustainable-cities-new-models-for-public-private-data-sharing/>

*Units of Measure for Humans and Machines: *Position Paper and Manifesto
of the DRUM (Digital Representation of Units of Measure) Task
Group https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4081656
<https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4081656> and First Briefing Meeting
<https://codata.org/initiatives/task-groups/drum/first-briefing-for-the-drum-ambassadors/>

*August 2020 publications*
<https://codata.org/august-2020-publications-in-the-data-science-journal/> in
the CODATA Data Science Journal <https://datascience.codata.org/>

*Stay in touch with CODATA:*

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___________________________

Asha Law | Program Assistant, CODATA | http://www.codata.org

E-Mail: asha at codata.org
Tel (Office): +33 1 45 25 04 96

CODATA (Committee on Data of the International Council for Science), 5 rue
Auguste Vacquerie, 75016 Paris, FRANCE
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