Open Science in Canada's 2016-2018 Open Government Plan

Following a consultation, the final version of Canada's 2016-2018 Open Government Plan for the Open Government Partnership has been released.

http://open.canada.ca/en/content/third-biennial-plan-open-government-partnership

This includes a commitment on open science, the second Canadian plan to have such a commitment.

Commitment 14: Increase Openness of Federal Science Activities (Open Science)

How will it be done:

Horizontal implementation of the federal open science initiative began in 2012. Under the new Plan, the Government of Canada wants to build on past work by taking bold steps to make government-funded science open and transparent to Canadians. Reflecting the importance of citizen engagement and collaboration, deliverables will focus on increasing the accessibility of government science, helping to ensure Canadians are informed of opportunities to engage in federal science and technology (S&T) activities, and exploring ways to enhance the impact of government data and information.

Underscoring the Government’s commitment to open science at the recent meeting of G7 Science and Technology Ministers, Canada supported a recommendation to establish an international working group on open science. This group would focus on sharing open science policies, exploring supportive incentive structures, and identifying good practices for promoting increased access to the results of publicly funded research, including scientific data and publications.

Milestones:

Science-based Departments and Agencies

• Create a Chief Science Officer mandated to ensure that government science is fully available to the public, that scientists are able to speak freely about their work, and that scientific analyses are considered when the Government makes decisions.  
• Increase the public availability of data and publications produced from federal Science and Technology (S&T) activities.
• Increase engagement with Canadians on federal S&T activities, including, as appropriate:
  • Enhanced communication of scientific participation opportunities in support of federal S&T activities; and
  • Targeted consultations on best practices for increasing the impact of federal S&T activities.
• Develop metrics to track collective federal progress on open science activities.

Granting Councils and Grants and Contributions

• Develop and implement an open access policy for scientific research funded through grants and contributions.
• Work toward the development of policies on digital data management for research funded through the Granting Councils.

Lead Departments:

Environment and Climate Change Canada; Innovation, Science, and Economic Development

Disclaimer: I work on the open science commitment.

See the previous open science commitment C.1 in the 2014-2016 Open Government Action Plan.

Previously:
June 16, 2016  consultation on draft 2016-2018 Open Gov Action Plan for Canada