In the last three years, there has been a slowdown in investments in Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) in Latin America, concomitant with the expansion of discussions and actions in defense of scientific, technological and open innovation production.
This means that there is a strong movement to break the backbone of current knowledge production, based on the capitalization and monopolization of knowledge by large corporate publishing groups based in more developed countries. As a result of the release of these ties, public participation in the direction of ST&I is valued.
The idea of open scientific data in relation to ST&I was born in preparation for the International Year of Geophysics, sponsored by the UN General Assembly, between 1957 and 1958. In 2004, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD ) formalized a declaration that all archival data produced with public funding should be made available free of charge.
Open data applied to social inclusion
As defined by the Open Knowledge Foundation, “[o] knowledge is open if anyone is free to access, use, modify and share it—subject, at most, to measures that preserve provenance and openness.” However, researcher Anne Clinio points to the conflict of perspectives on this subject in LA.
According to her, “[existe], at least, two perspectives are in dispute: the first promotes a utilitarian view of science in terms of greater efficiency, productivity and competitiveness; the second turns to issues such as guaranteeing rights, cognitive justice and social justice”.
The appreciation of open data can be an important inflection point to boost the socioeconomic situation in Latin America, that is, to act effectively to meet the rights of social inclusion. Although it is a topic in theoretical and practical dispute, the production of knowledge through open data is presented in a context that brings together a low degree of political participation, combined with low levels of business investments in Research and Development, witnessed by a neoliberal wave. that insists on weakening the already weakened social and economic systems.
Therefore, the quality of products, services and processes will only be improved when society obtains an increase in its living standards, the material conditions of existence are met and basic social issues are resolved.
There is no point in thinking about emerging technological applications, without first transforming mentalities and ways of acting in society that are based on an economic model that exploits excessive natural resources. This is useless if most of society is pressured by basic day-to-day needs, and not encouraged to think critically.
Despite advances in the subject in Latin America, considering the development of scientific data repositories, Latin American collaboration in open data still depends on regionally structured governance, as it requires a normative framework for the management of research data. Examples of repositories that could be integrated in the near future are: IBICT, RNP and CNPq agreement, in Brazil; Data Portal of the UAM, in Mexico; Dataverse repositories; and Re3data.
Therefore, the context needs to be understood by the professional who will carry out the diagnosis on the ways of producing information and disseminating knowledge. Factors inherent to actions, aimed at social transformation, must involve methods, techniques and tools oriented to the assessment of social and economic conditions, and have the capacity to produce scientifically qualified and open data, publicly accessible for their reuse with the objective of improving the produced knowledge.
But this must be done symmetrically, valuing access to the commons, with protection against the unequal practices of traditional modern science. What, moreover, would allow the inclusion of knowledge based on traditional knowledge, breaking the barriers imposed by the hegemonism of a ST&I of a Eurocentric character.
This would allow drawing up other perspectives in a participatory environment, with greater interaction between community representatives and decision makers, in which the researcher acts as a facilitator and decoder of research production and results. Open data experiences are essential for other researchers or decision makers to reuse, re-signify and reorient them, as the transformation of social dynamics is constant and the actions to understand them need to be in tune with reality.
Examples around the world
A practical example of open data tools can be found in the various institutional repositories around the world. The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), within the scope of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, shows how decisive investment is in order to exchange knowledge without cost barriers for research, innovation and education.
In Latin America, the report prepared for the Foro Abierto de Ciencias (CILAC) in 2018, entitled: Transformando nuestra región: Ciencias, Tecnología e Innovación para el Desarrollo Sostenible, attests to the importance of open scientific data for the social transformation of the region and opens the possibility of growth of this modality of knowledge sharing.
A good example of continental articulation, which seems to work efficiently, even in times of acute political crisis, is the area of public health research (Unasur-Saúde, PAHO, etc.). The inter-institutional exchange of technical and scientific information can inspire more solid and continuous ST&I promotion practices, as State policies and not just through government initiatives.
The advanced discussions on Open Data are also an indication that the continent has an outstanding role, with a pioneering spirit, in the proposals defended by the Panama Declaration on Open Science, in 2018, and in the actions in defense of democratic access to scientific knowledge.
There are uncontested priorities in relation to the implementation of ST&I policies and this is linked to the iniquitous and contradictory material conditions of existence of the Latin American population, and it is essential to solve their basic social issues.
With this, the transformation necessarily involves redesigning new development strategies that have research, teaching and innovation as fundamental elements for the enjoyment of a full, fair, inclusive and diverse citizenship.
