Open Research in a Changing Geo-Political Landscape

In their announcement of the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships, the Government of Canada noted that the Canadian research ecosystem must be “as open as possible and as secure as necessary.” By looking at the current state and future directions of open research in the changing geo-political landscape, this conference unpacks what it means to be as “open as possible” today. A conversation is thus long overdue. Moving beyond the easy slogan of “as open as possible and as secure as necessary,” this event will be a high-profile summit that tackles the central question of what open research looks like – and what directions it should go in – in our ever-changing world.
 
Conversations around open research and safeguarding research are taking place on many interrelated yet often separate levels. All recognize the benefits of open science and the need for collaboration to meet global challenges, but to be as “secure as necessary” can present stumbling blocks to global scholarship.
 
Different communities draw on varying concepts of what it means to be an “open researcher.” Some researchers see their research as “open” in terms of contributing to international global scholarship, while posting their code on GitHub or providing datasets online. Others may consider particular limits to who sees what data and when, as within the scope of Indigenous data sovereignty. As well, librarians and scholarly communications may understand it in terms of varieties of Open Access, whereas other scholars may see it as new paradigms of knowledge mobilization outside of traditional publishing practices.
  
This 1.5-day conference, held at the University of Waterloo in collaboration with the University of Ottawa, Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto, will be a researcher-framed and -driven event that brings together academic researchers, including librarians, funders and policymakers. Potential topics include science diplomacy, a Tri-Agency panel exploring the intersections of open science and safeguarding research, differing definitions of what open access means and international perspectives. The goal will be a set of statements and framing questions, allowing the community to better articulate what researchers and institutions need in our ever-changing geopolitical landscape.