Advancing Open Science in Japan and in International Collaboration

 The way we advance the science is changing drastically with the advent of Internet and growth of data storage capacity and computing power. Indeed, these transformations facilitate, even more accelerate, knowledge sharing and collaboration beyond the closed circle of Scientists. The move toward “Open Science,” that is to make scientific production, diffusion and use more open, is underway. And it invites us to reassess the meaning of “Openness”, one of the foundations of science.

OECD was one of the first movers to engage the debate on Open Science among STI policy makers, and its report “Making Open Science a Reality” (2015) provides an overview of recent policy trends and helps us to identify major policy challenges.

G8 Science Ministers’ Meeting in London (2013) was crucial to give a political push to this move. In fact, in its Statement, G8 Science Ministers endorsed “Open Data” and “Open Access”.

Given these global trends, recognizing that it is of vital importance for Japan to participate in the international discussion and to demonstrate its proactive approaches to promote open science, “the Expert Panel on Open Science in Global Perspective” has discussed various issues Japan has to tackle immediately. Based on these discussions, the Expert Panel expressed guiding principles to promote Open Science in Japan in its report “Promoting Open Science in Japan. Opening up a new era for the advancement of science” (2015), one of the direct consequences being the identification of the “Promoting Open Science” as a key policy issue in the forthcoming 5^th Science and Technology Basic Plan (2016-2020).