UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science – Thoughts by Anindita Bhadra
Anindita Bhadra
Associate Dean of International Relations and Outreach, IISER Kolkata
Past Co-Chair and alumnus, Global Young Academy (GYA)
Founding Chair and alumnus, Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS)
The UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science is a much needed and welcome step forward for the future of science and society. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been instrumental in holding a mirror to scientists and policymakers, underlining the importance of making all knowledge open and accessible. The world is going through a period of unprecedented crisis, both reeling under the impact of the pandemic and experiencing the threat of climate change through a barrage of natural calamities across the world. Unless we reach out and share knowledge, open multiple channels of discourse, and network across political, socio-cultural, and disciplinary boundaries to design more inclusive policies and processes and devise sustainable solutions to all the problems facing humanity, we are sure to accelerate into a catastrophic future.
The immense task of developing vaccines within a record-breaking time was possible because of open networking and information sharing across boundaries. However, the major divide between the Global North and South has increased further, despite this openness, due to vaccine politics and the digital divide. On the one hand, the pandemic has led to the loss of lives and livelihoods across the world and, on the other hand, socio-economic disparities have increased between the “haves” and “have-nots” of the world. A right as basic as access to education has taken a back seat, and millions of children have lost their connections not only with their schools and teachers, but also with education, perhaps forever. With every passing day, the gaping divide stretches wider, engulfing many and tearing the world apart. Open sharing of knowledge, information, and resources is the need of the hour. It is heartening to note that UNESCO has not only made a strong recommendation in support of open science but has also “decided” that the member states will report on their progress toward implementing the recommendations every four years. This will, in principle, add a further shade of responsibility for the member states that have adopted the recommendation.
As a female researcher from the Global South, working in a relatively fringe area of science, I have both personally and globally experienced various kinds of discriminations in the sciences, as well as in society. I am a firm advocate for open science, however, I cannot afford to publish in most open access journals due to lack of funding. While Plan S provides hope to researchers in the Global North, it is a hard to achieve the same reality for researchers in the Global South. Early and mid-career researchers can play a pivotal role in driving the change towards open science, by sharing their experiences and providing input to policymakers for designing more inclusive funding structures. We need to amplify the voices of young researchers across the globe and design inclusive policies that will make open science a realisable goal—not just wishful thinking—for a large majority of the world’s researchers.
