Gavin Baker of Open Access News blog posted highlights of the interview Donna Wentworth of Science Commons blog had with Rufus Pollock, founder of the Open Knowledge Foundation, digital rights activist, and economist at the University of Cambridge. Here are excerpts from Donna’s interview.
…The progress we’re making with data licensing (is the most important development in Open Science over the last year). We have the Science Commons Protocol for Implementing Open Access Data, which conforms to the Open Knowledge Definition, and the very first open data licenses that comply with the protocol: the Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (ODC-PDDL) and the CC0 public domain waiver. We now need to encourage people to start using these waivers — or any other open license that complies.
…There are clear, massive benefits for society in having a healthy, balanced information commons. Unfortunately, it is often the case that those who benefit from proprietarization have better-paid advocates, better-oiled PR machines, etc.
My hope is that this work that so many of us are doing pro bono, often in our spare time, will slowly increase in impact — and that, at a minimum, we can ensure that all publicly funded scientific research will be open.
