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Suggested Citation:"29. Closing Observations." National Research Council. 2011. Designing the Microbial Research Commons: Proceedings of an International Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13245.
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29. Closing Observations
– Cathy Wu

University of Delaware

I would like to congratulate all the participants for this very successful and thoughtful symposium. I do not think I can do it justice by trying to recap the discussion from the symposium—the vast issues being explored and the different opinions being expressed. As mentioned by Dan Drell, our sponsor from the Department of Energy, this symposium is quite critical and timely, in light of the tsunami of data and information we are witnessing.

We certainly do need to address all these issues concerning the barriers and challenges in the different scientific, technical, institutional, legal, economic, and sociocultural areas due to the increasing rate of the data flood. We also have heard many presentations about the opportunities for new research and discoveries because of this wealth of data and digital resources.

Some of the issues brought forth in this symposium may lead to additional studies. For example, how do we characterize knowledge? How do we better understand knowledge structures? How do we study the perceived value of knowledge? These and other questions have legal, economic, and governance implications.

What about training? There was some discussion about training data scientists. And what about open source software in this integrated research commons with open data, publications, and materials? What is the role of the software tools?

Many of these discussions are relevant to scientific disciplines beyond biology, and the issues discussed at this symposium will be shared with the Board on Research Data and Information. They will also no doubt be considered within your respective communities. I think this symposium has really planted seeds for many more interesting and useful things to come and will inspire new discussions and approaches.

Suggested Citation:"29. Closing Observations." National Research Council. 2011. Designing the Microbial Research Commons: Proceedings of an International Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13245.
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Suggested Citation:"29. Closing Observations." National Research Council. 2011. Designing the Microbial Research Commons: Proceedings of an International Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13245.
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Page 209
Suggested Citation:"29. Closing Observations." National Research Council. 2011. Designing the Microbial Research Commons: Proceedings of an International Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13245.
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Page 210
Next: Appendix A – Microbial Commons Symposium Agenda »
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Recent decades have witnessed an ever-increasing range and volume of digital data. All elements of the pillars of science--whether observation, experiment, or theory and modeling--are being transformed by the continuous cycle of generation, dissemination, and use of factual information. This is even more so in terms of the re-using and re-purposing of digital scientific data beyond the original intent of the data collectors, often with dramatic results.

We all know about the potential benefits and impacts of digital data, but we are also aware of the barriers, the challenges in maximizing the access, and use of such data. There is thus a need to think about how a data infrastructure can enhance capabilities for finding, using, and integrating information to accelerate discovery and innovation. How can we best implement an accessible, interoperable digital environment so that the data can be repeatedly used by a wide variety of users in different settings and with different applications?

With this objective: to use the microbial communities and microbial data, literature, and the research materials themselves as a test case, the Board on Research Data and Information held an International Symposium on Designing the Microbial Research Commons at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC on 8-9 October 2009. The symposium addressed topics such as models to lower the transaction costs and support access to and use of microbiological materials and digital resources from the perspective of publicly funded research, public-private interactions, and developing country concerns. The overall goal of the symposium was to stimulate more research and implementation of improved legal and institutional models for publicly funded research in microbiology.

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