the importance of content-mining in the ec policy on open access

Jean-François DechampOpen Access Policy OfficerEuropean CommissionDirectorate-General for Research & Innovation (DG RTD)

Brussels, 22 April 2013Licences for Europe, TDM working group, 3rd meeting

The European Commission The European Commission policy on open access:policy on open access:the importance ofthe importance oftext and data miningtext and data mining

Research & InnovationResearch & Innovation

What is open access (OA) to scientific information

OA = online access at no charge to the user (& further distribution and proper archiving)

• to peer-reviewed scientific publications• to research data

Two main OA publishing business models• Gold OAGold OA: costs covered (e.g. by 'authors')

immediate OAimmediate OA: provided by publisher• Green OAGreen OA: deposit of manuscripts

immediate/delayed OAimmediate/delayed OA: provided by author


Two Commissioners on open access

• Vice-President Neelie Kroes• Digital Agenda• "We spend hundreds of billions of Euro

on research in Europe and we need to make sure the results can have the largest possible impact”

• (July 2012 Press conference)

• CommissionerMáire Geoghegan-Quinn

• Research & Innovation• “Open access will (…) boost Europe's

innovation capacity and give citizens quicker access to the benefits of scientific discoveries”

• (2012 Stakeholder meeting)


The Commission objective

• The Commission wants to optimise the impact of publicly-funded scientific research• At European level (FP7, Horizon 2020)• At Member State level

• One way to get there: open access

• Expected benefits: • Results of publicly funded research can be disseminated more broadly

and faster for the benefit of researchers, industry and citizens• Equal access across Europe and beyond• Drive down the costs of dissemination without sacrificing quality


The Commission strategy

• Develop and implement open access to research results from projects funded by the EU Research Framework Programmes (FP7, Horizon 2020)• Incl. funding research and supporting activities in the area of

open access

• Encourage national initiatives at Member State level

• Contribute to co-ordination between Member States and within the European Research Area


Three key documents from the European Commission (16.07.2012)

• Communication 'A reinforced European Research Area partnership for excellence and growth'• Global setting

• Communication 'Towards better access to scientific information: boosting the benefits of public investments in research' • Focus on Horizon 2020

• Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information• Focus on EU Member States


1. Communication 'ERA'

• The ERA is based on the internal market in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely

• One of the five priority areas: Optimal circulation, access to and transfer of scientific knowledge

• Joint statement by stakeholders organisations• Formal commitments and activities on open access by:

EARTO, NordForsk, Science Europe, LERU and EUA

2. Communication: 'Towards better access to scientific information'

• OA Pilot in FP7• 'Best effort' to provide OA• 7 areas• Peer-reviewed publications• Allowed embargos: 6/12 months

• OA publishing costs• Eligible while project runs• All projects

• OA mandate in H2020 (tbc)• Obligation to provide OA• All areas• Peer-reviewed publications• Allowed embargos: 6/12 months• + Pilot for research data (details

tbd / interests to protect)

• OA publishing costs (tbc)• Eligible while project runs• All projects• Publications after project ends??

(conditions tbd)

G

reen

OA

Gre

en

OA

Gold

OA

Gold

OA



3. Recommendation to Member States• Member States to define policies for and implement:

• OA to publications• OA to research data – taking into account data-specific

concerns• preservation and re-use of scientific information• e-infrastructures

• Consistency between H2020 policy and MS policy

• Structured co-ordination of MS (National Points of Reference) at EU-level and reporting

• Multi-stakeholder dialogue to be set up


How are Commission policy documents on TDM and OA intertwined? (1/2)

• The 'Scientific information package' (2012 Communication and Recommendation) came prior to the 2012 Communication on Content in the Digital Single Market

• No explicit mention of TDM

• However...


How are Commission policy documents on TDM and OA intertwined? (2/2)

• Communication (Horizon 2020):

"[...] information already paid for by the public purse should not be paid for again each time it is accessed or used, and [...] it should benefit European companies and citizens to the full."

"The Commission encourages authors to retain their copyright and to grant licences to publishers, according to the rules applying in Member States."

• Recommendation (Member States):

"[as a result of OA policies] Licensing systems contribute to open access [to publications] in a balanced way, in accordance with and without prejudice to the applicable copyright legislation, and encourage researchers to retain their copyright while granting licences to publishers."

"[as a result of OA policies] Research data [are] publicly accessible, usable and re-usable through digital infrastructures."


R&I perspective: the need to open up TDM (1/2)

• Efficient use of TDM is a way optimise the impact of publicly-funded scientific research

Several studies predict a huge potential of TDM for R&I and the economy as a whole

• TDM must be ‘opened up’: existing legal and technical barriers to TDM must be removed

Ideally and whenever possible, content to be mined should be open, free to access online for text and data mining

At the very least, licenses to read / access content should include TDM

Technical challenges must also be addressed: being able to access large volumes of data via unique entry points (platforms would speed up the R&I process)


R&I perspective: the need to open up TDM (2/2)

• The Commission understands the concerns of its stakeholders, including the research community, about making additional licensing the only solution: Content-mining licences should not be barriers to TDM of publicly-funded research

• All evidence, opinions and solutions to facilitate the widest adoption of TDM must be given equal weighting: No solution should be ruled to be out of scope from the outset

• TDM policy development will have an impact not only on the R&I done in the remit of Horizon 2020, but on any research and knowledge transfer performed within the ERA

• Not only parallel developments in TDM should not jeopardize the EU policy on open access TDM policy developments must be coherent with the broader move towards openness in R&I: open access, open data, open innovation, citizen science, crowdsourcing, etc.


What can DG RTD bring to the process?• Commission's objectives:

Stakeholders are invited to point to all the issues and limitations of current licensing models and indicate preferred options, including legislative reform

The stakeholder dialogue does not affect the parallel on-going legislative review

Conclusions do not bind any of the participants

The overall responsibility for the dialogue rests with DGs CNECT, EAC & MARKT

• DG RTD will be more actively involved:

Need to ensure the broadest discussion and reporting on various possible solutions to tackle the obstacles for TDM

This includes considering copyright exceptions in the EU legal framework on copyright

Need to ensure coherence with the EU policy on open access

Thank you!

• Website of the European Commission on open access• http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/open_access

• Contacts in DG RTD• [email protected]


the importance of content-mining in the ec policy on open access

Documents

open access

oa intertwined

oa policies

member states

research data

research amp

project runs

innovationramp