Strategies for Open and Permanent Access to Scientific Information in Latin America: Focus on Health and Environmental Information for Sustainable Development ________________________________ May 2007, Atibaia, Brazil

CODATA: Committee on Data for Science & Technology  Interdisciplinary committee of the International Council for Science (ICSU)  Established in 1966  CODATA focus:  Data management problems and issues common to different scientific disciplines  Data used outside the field in which they were generated

CODATA’s Network of Members  24 member countries and academies  15 Union liaisons  20 supporting organizations  11 Task Groups, Working Groups, and Commissions  Other national member activities

CODATA Task and Working Groups  Access to Biological Collection Data  Anthropometric Data & Engineering  Comprehensive Information System on Natural Disaster Mitigation  Data on Natural Gas Hydrates  Data Sources in Asian Oceanic Countries  Data Sources for Sustainable Development in SADC Countries  Exchangeable Materials Data Representation to Support Scientific Research & Education  Global Species Data Networks  Preservation of and Access to S&T Data in Developing Countries  Polar Year Data Policy & Management  Fundamental Physical Constants

“Digital resources will not survive or remain accessible by accident.” –Bernard Smith, European Commission ICSTI/ICSU/CODATA Digital Preservation Workshop 15 February 2002, Paris, France Why permanence is hard “The desire for archives is much greater than the desire to archive.” –Eli Hjorth Reksten Critical Issues in the Preservation of Datasets April 2006, Uppsala, Sweden

Workshop Objectives  What are the main challenges and barriers to progress in providing permanent access to S&T data?  What are promising means to overcome these challenges?  What specific actions can we put into practice.