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==={{pl|Panton Principles}}===
Already started. Further possible additions below.


(would be great to get permission to upload covers of HB books)
==Principles==
But the big incentive for the declaration is for scientists who come across data which has been used in previous studies. Is the data acceptable for using? Are there limitations on what it can used for? Will using a specific set of data generate legal issues? Since many of these issues are unclear, scientists coming across data in the [[public sphere]] may face uncertainty about whether they are allowed to access it, use it, study it further, or base new studies on it. It is enough of an issue that a group of scientists have issued a statement known as the ''Panton Principles''.


Possible article title: '''Howard C. Berkowitz'''
What the drafters of the Panton Principles want is that when scientists release data, they attach a statement or marker which describes the wishes of the originating scientist regarding the future use of the data. The idea is to come up with an easily understood tag applicable to all data they choose to release, so that others who come across the data will be able to understand what the data creator's intentions were when releasing the data. The hope is, of course, that all data might be freely used for any purpose, but the tag enables this to be more readily understood.


There are concerns that current license formats such as the Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL) and the Creative Commons CC0 are complex from a legal standpoint. And the movement favoring the Panton Principles is, in some respects, a way to simplify matters. One scientist explained that the benefit of declaring data "open" is that it makes it possible for subsequent researchers to use it freely, without [[fear]] or [[anxiety]] or uncertainty:
<blockquote>The biggest danger is NOT making the assertion that the data is Open. There may be second-order problems from CC0 or PPDL but they are nothing compared to the uncertainty of NOT making this simple assertion. Do not try to be clever and use SA, NC or other restricted licenses. Simply state the data are Open.</blockquote>
[[Image:Panton Arms Pub in Cambridge UK.jpg|thumb|350px|right|alt=A building.|The [[Panton Arms]] pub in [[Cambridge]], [[United Kingdom]] where the Panton Principles were drawn up.]]


[[Image:Linksys Router.png|thumb|right|alt=Picture of a blue box with lights on it.|A [[router]] is like a traffic light on a computer network -- it shunts data traffic to different places or ''routes'' to enable a computer network to function efficiently. Howard C. Berkowitz designed routers like this one.]]
Walter Jessen explained:
{{TOC|right}}
<blockquote>Science is based on building on, reusing and openly criticising the published body of scientific knowledge. For science to effectively function, and for society to reap the full benefits from scientific endeavours, it is crucial that science data be made open. By open data in science we mean that it is freely available on the public internet permitting any user to download, copy, analyse, re-process, pass them to software or use them for any other purpose without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. To this end data related to published science should be explicitly placed in the public domain.<ref name=twsMAR23a544>{{cite news
'''Howard C. Berkowitz''' is an expert on numerous [[computer network]] related subjects such as [[routers]], [[Computer network|network engineering]], [[Information security|information security]], [[medical information system|medical information systems]], and other areas, and has published books on these subjects. Some of his books are used in graduate level courses at [[university|universities]] as textbooks. He has helped build large networks and has worked as a consultant for private industry as well as the [[Government of the United States of America|US federal government]]. He has two [[patent|patents]] pending. He is also a significant contributor to the online encyclopedia [[Citizendium]], a [[Wikipedia]]-like project which values experts and insists that contributors use their real names, and has served in top management and editorial roles at Citizendium. He is a prolific writer and loves to teach. He has wide interests including electronics for [[commercial fishing]], [[cloud computing]], renewable biodiesel applications, [[Environment (biology)|environmentally friendly]] methods, [[clinical computing]], commercial fishing, [[journalism]], [[pharmacology]], [[Federal Emergency Management Agency|emergency management]], and learning new things. He volunteers with the [[Incident Command System]] and the [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]]. He loves [[cat|cats]] and fishing and lives in Cape Cod, [[Massachusetts]].
|author= Walter Jessen
|title= The Panton Principles for Open Data in Science
|publisher= Next Generation Science
|date= February 19, 2010
|url= http://www.nextgenerationscience.com/open-access/the-panton-principles-for-open-data-in-science/
|accessdate= 2010-03-23
}}</ref></blockquote>


==Early career==
In March 2010, the Panton Principles is an Internet-based initiative calling for a scientist to make an "explicit and robust statement" regarding his or her wishes for the data by using a "recognized waiver or license that is appropriate for data."<ref name=twsMAR23av33>{{cite news
Berkowitz was born in Newark, [[New Jersey]] after [[World War II]]. While in high school, he was interested in [[biochemistry]], including [[Pathogen|pathogens]], and found a mentor skilled in medicine, microbiology, and biochemistry; he did a research proposal regarding notalysin and finished this in college. He wrote:
|author= Bill Hooker
{{quote|It probably was just as well that my mother did not know all of what was in my basement lab. No, no [[explosive|explosives]], just pathogens -- I later did make some improvised things that went '''''bang''''', but that was under guidance while a contractor working with [[U.S. Army Special Forces]].}}
|title= Panton Principles for Open Data in Science
|publisher= Science Commons Symposium
|date= 2010-03-23
|url= http://www.sennoma.net/main/archives/2010/02/panton_principles_for_open_dat.php
|accessdate= 2010-03-23
}}</ref> The call for a set of principles stems in part from a sense that "many widely recognized licenses are not intended for ... data". Licenses such as "Creative Commons" have been described as unsuitable for handling issues such as scientific data.<ref name=twsMAR23>{{cite web
|title= The Panton Principles for Open Data in Science
|publisher= Connected Knowledge
|quote= Many widely recognized licenses are not intended for, and are not appropriate for, data or collections of data. A variety of waivers and licenses that are designed for and appropriate for the treatment of data are described here. Creative Commons licenses (apart from CCZero), GFDL, GPL, BSD, etc are NOT appropriate for data and their use is STRONGLY discouraged.
|date= February 19th, 2010
|url= http://www.connected-knowledge.com/?p=583
|accessdate= 2010-03-23
}}</ref>


In his early career, he worked in microbial [[biochemistry]], [[emergency management]], and [[social science]] support to special operations. During the [[Vietnam War]], he helped build tactical sensors. He was trained in [[intelligence analysis]]. He was a technical contributor to the national network architecture known as "C3I". He was the chief developer of [[clinical computing]] at [[Georgetown University]] [[Hospital]] and worked with systems such as ''Index Medicus'' to simulate a doctor's expertise.<ref name=twsMar14p>{{cite news
[[Image:Panton Arms Signers.jpg‎|thumb|350px|left|alt=People in front of a building.|The signers of the Panton Principles in September 2009 included (from left:) Jenny Meyer, Jordan Hatcher, Rufus Pollock, John Wilbanks, Cameron Neylon, Peter Murray-Rust, Carolina Rossini.]]
|title=
|publisher= aionex.com
|date= 2010-03-14
|url= http://www.aionex.com
|accessdate= 2010-03-14
}}</ref> He has two [[patent|patents]] pending.


He worked at [[GTE]] on the insides of telephone [[Computer network|networks]]. He was a member of the Federal Telecommunications Standards Committee from 1976 to 1980). He worked on ways to keep military telecommunications networks functioning after an attack or disruption. He wrote:
An Internet search of about twenty major newspapers and magazines, including the ''[[New York Times]]'' and ''[[BBC News]]'' using the search term "Panton Principles" did not find any results on March 23, 2010, although there are Internet sites dealing with scientific issues that have posted comments about the initiative.
{{quote|The US National Communications Systems and military networks were intended to operate under the most extreme conditions ... the network really needed to operate for 20 minutes or so, but you never knew when the 20 minutes would start, and would just have to cope with network elements randomly turning into mushroom clouds.}}
He worked with systems and protocols including FTSC, ANSI, DISY, OSI, ISO 7498, and OSIRM.


He was the first technical staff member at the Corporation for Open Systems. This was a nonprofit industry research center to develop OSI and ISDN protocols. He managed numerous teams and committees on such systems as FTAM, X.25, IEEE 802. He wrote One memorable experience was lecturing about X.25 testing in [[Japan]]:
Here are the four principles:
{{quote|I had the horrible realization that my PowerPoint slides, translated into [[Japanese]], had gotten into a different order than my English-language notes.}}
But he finished the presentation with the help of a multilingual colleague.{{citation needed}}


==Network expertise==
# When publishing data make an explicit and robust statement of your wishes.
[[Image:PPVPN with P.png|thumb|left|alt=Diagram.|A [[Virtual private network]] is a way to build a secure network on top of more basic networks. Berkowitz helped design them, and advises users in books, speeches, and conferences about how to make them work effectively. This diagram details one VPN design.]]
# Use a recognized waiver or license that is appropriate for data.
When the [[Internet]] became more important in the early 1990s, he worked with the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] to build [[Internet Protocol|Internet protocols]]. He worked with the [[North American Network Operators Group|North American Network Operators Group or NANOG]] and the Internet Research Task Force or IRTF. His focus was on [[router|routing]], particularly with BGP/IDR and OSPF, and Operations & Management, particularly BMWG & OPSEC, as well as network security, real-time applications, and infrastructure.
# If you want your data to be effectively used and added to by others it should be open as defined by the Open Knowledge/Data Definition – in particular non-commercial and other restrictive clauses should not be used.
# Explicit dedication of data underlying published science into the public domain via PDDL or CCZero is strongly recommended and ensures compliance with both the Science Commons Protocol for Implementing Open Access Data and the Open Knowledge/Data Definition.


At Nortel, Berkowitz was a product line manager who worked on communications standards for networks commonly called [[Computer networking session protocols|protocols]]. He was promoted to Senior Advisor in Nortel's corporate [[Scientific method|research]] laboratory and worked on [[Internet Protocol|Internet protocol]] routing. He spoke at the [[Internet]] Society meeting in [[Stockholm]] on the subject of the limits of the Internet routing system. He helped design state-of-the-art routers.
Why are the principles necessary? A post-doctoral student in [[Sweden]] explained in a [[blog]] about being perplexed when finding useful [[data]] but without any explicit information about what could be done with it. Contacting the creators of the data for permission is cumbersome and slow, and there is the possibility that the initial author of the data is "missing in action". An explicit statement is much preferred.<ref name=twsMAR234qqw>{{cite news
|author= Egon Willighagen
|title= Panton Principles
|publisher= Egon Willighagen's Blog
|date= February 19, 2010
|url= http://chem-bla-ics.blogspot.com/2010/02/open-data-panton-principles.html
|accessdate= 2010-03-23
}}</ref> But the idea about using a "waiver or license appropriate for data" was, in the view of this blogger, "debatable", particularly when it came to the possibility of mixing data sets, and prefers the [[copyleft]] license approach. He didn't like the non-commercial restrictive clause since, in his view, it doesn't make things easier, and prefers [[public domain]] via the PDDL or CCZero licenses.<ref name=twsMAR234qqw/>


At Cisco, he taught ''Internetwork Design'' which is a way to merge different networks efficiently into a functioning system. His specialties were [[fault tolerance]], [[Router|router design]], [[Simple Network Management Protocol|network management]]. He worked on systems for [[Telecommunications network|telecommunications]], [[Internet Service Provider|Internet Service Providers (or ISPs)]], [[military]] such as [[C3I-ISR]], and [[medicine]].
The statement grew out of discussion between many scientists, although one source credits the launch of the Panton Principles to [[Jonathan Gray]].<ref name=twsMAR239iio>{{cite news
|author= Cameron Neylon
|title= The Panton Principles: Finding agreement on the public domain for published scientific data
|publisher= Science in the Open (blog)
|quote= The launch of the Panton Principles, many months after they were first suggested is really largely down to the work of Jonathan Gray. This was one of several projects that I haven’t been able to follow through properly on and I want to acknowledge the effort that Jonathan has put into making that happen.
|date= 22 February 2010
|url= http://cameronneylon.net/blog/the-panton-principles-finding-agreement-on-the-public-domain-for-published-scientific-data/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ScienceInTheOpen+(Science+in+the+open)
|accessdate= 2010-03-23
}}</ref> Cameron Neylon described how the principles came about:
<blockquote>The Principles came out of a discussion in the [[Panton Arms]] a pub near to the [[Chemistry]] Department of [[Cambridge University]] ... Where we found agreement was that for science, and for scientific data, and particularly science funded by public investment, that the [[public domain]] was the best approach and that we would all recommend it. ... placing data explicitly, irrevocably, and legally in the public domain satisfies both the Open Knowledge Definition and the Science Commons Principles for Open Data was something that we could all personally sign up to. The end result is something that I have no doubt is imperfect ... Above all, it is a start.<ref name=twsMAR239iio/></blockquote>


In network engineering, Berkowitz worked in:
==References==
* communications standards. This enables computers from different manufacturers to be able to talk to each other. He's worked with standards such as ISO/CCITT and ANSI.
{{reflist}}
* designing [[router|routers]]; a router is like a traffic light of a [[computer network]] since it manages [[data]] traffic to prevent jams.
* building systems to [[Simple Network Management Protocol|manage networks]]. He designs systems to enable firms to handle large volumes of data traffic efficiently.
* designing networks for large [[Internet Service Provider|service providers]]
* enterprise networks


==Writing, speaking==
----
[[Image:CISCO HQ.JPG|thumb|right|alt=Picture of a modern office building of 5 stories.|Berkowitz taught courses at Cisco including ''Internetwork Design''.]]
==Possible further articles==
Berkowitz wrote:
* '''WAN Survival Guide: Strategies for VPNs and Multiservice Networks''' (2000) (John Wiley & Sons) # ISBN-10: 0471384283 # ISBN-13: 978-0471384281<ref name=twsMar14p1>{{cite news
|author= Howard Berkowitz
|title= WAN Survival Guide: Strategies for VPNs and Multiservice Networks
|publisher= Amazon
|date= November 10, 2000
|url= http://www.amazon.com/WAN-Survival-Guide-Strategies-Multiservice/dp/0471384283
|accessdate= 2010-03-14
}}</ref> The book helped managers of Wide Area Networks by helping them assess user requirements, lower costs by using multiservice networking, reducing downtime, managing QoS, using dedicated lines and frame relay and ATM to provide basic services, help managers handle [[Virtual private network|virtual private networks or VPNs]], manage security, roaming, mobility, and database fault tolerance and multihoming. The book was described by several reviewers as an "excellent resource."<ref name=twsMar14o>{{cite news
|title= Bandwidth Solutions For Hungry Companies
|publisher= Router Freak: Router and Switch Reviews and Tips for Network Engineers
|date= 2010-03-14
|url= http://www.routerfreak.com/bandwidth-solutions-for-hungry-companies/
|accessdate= 2010-03-14
}}</ref>
Another reviewer wrote:
{{quote|These topics could be a dry, academic exercise, but (as usual) Howard Berkowitz spices the material with "war stories" of actual WAN technology assignments (and why the customers didn't really want they just asked for) and the injection of humor as a means of remembering rules (such as Schwarzenegger's Laws of Networking).<ref name=twsMar14q>{{cite news
|title=  Howard strikes again -- WAN Survival Guide: Strategies for VPNs and Multiservice Networks by Howard Berkowitz (review)
|publisher= Amazon
|date= March 24, 2001
|url= http://www.m.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A3993DTTC2J4HN?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview
|accessdate= 2010-03-14
}}</ref> The book is an excellent "place to start" for people wanting to learn more about what's "inside the cloud".


* '''Building Service Provider Networks'''(2002) John Wiley & Sons, ISBN-10: 0471099228 ISBN-13: 978-0471099222<ref name=twsMar14q>{{cite news
==={{pl|Data sharing}}===
|author= Howard Berkowitz
|title= Building Service Provider Networks
|publisher= John Wiley & Sons
|date= May 15, 2002
|url= http://www.amazon.com/Building-Service-Provider-Networks-Berkowitz/dp/0471099228
|accessdate= 2010-03-14
}}</ref> This book offered guidance to network and service provider engineers to help them meet customer needs regarding data, voice, and video. It showed them how to build information systems. The first step is translating customer needs into technical requirements. The next step is managing address space. The book dealt with issues such as data link facilities, core transmission technologies, using the Border Gateway Protocol (and applying it to meet specific customer needs), designing the Point of Presence carrier, scalability of the intraprovider core, interprovider connectivity, and extending [[Virtual private network|Virtual private networks]] beyond a single provider for maximum efficiency. A reviewer of the book wrote:
{{quote|Howard Berkowitz is known in the networking community for his writing which has helped many, many people earn advanced certifications. But Howard doesn't write to that goal; he writes, instead, to the goal of helping people understand what it takes to make a network actually perform and deliver the business function it was purchased for. This is another in that series of lucid and focused books. -- A. A. Hines, senior network engineer.<ref name=twsMar14r1>{{cite news
|author= A. A. Hines
|title=  Too bad so many startups never read this book
|publisher= Amazon
|date= December 13, 2002
|url= http://www.amazon.com/Building-Service-Provider-Networks-Berkowitz/product-reviews/0471099228/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
|accessdate= 2010-03-14
}}</ref>}}
It is used as a textbook at the Victoria University at Wellington in [[New Zealand]] in its school of [[Engineering]] and [[Computer Science]].<ref name=twsMar14r>{{cite news
|title= NWEN 403: Advanced Network Engineering
Course Outline 2010 Tri 1 -- Textbook -- Howard Berkowitz, Building Service Provider Networks
|publisher= Victoria University at Wellington
|date= 2010-03-14
|url= http://ecs.victoria.ac.nz/Courses/NWEN403_2010T1/CourseOutline
|accessdate= 2010-03-14
}}</ref>


* Industry presentations, speeches, conferences.
[[Image:JKepler.png|thumb|240px|left|alt=Picture of a portrait of a man.|[[Johannes Kepler]] used data measurements from [[Tycho Brahe]] to develop three fundamental laws of planetary motion.]]
There's a well-known example from the history of [[astronomy]] in which one scientist took the data from another in a totally new direction. The [[Denmark|Danish]] scientist [[Tycho Brahe]] (1546-1601) worked tirelessly to make accurate measurements of [[planet|planetary]] [[parallax]] were accurate to the arcminute. By systematic and rigorous observation, night after night, Brahe amassed a comprehensive set of data detailing the positions of the planets and [[star (astronomy)|stars]]. But Brahe was unable to fit his data into a comprehensive [[scientific theory|theory]]. After Brahe's death, fellow scientist [[Johannes Kepler]] used Brahe's data to develop the ''[[Mathematicus Imperialis]]'' at the court of emperor [[Rudolph II]] in [[Prague]], [[Czechoslovakia]] and, using Brahe's data, figured out the three laws of planetary motion, including the fact that planets moved in [[ellipse|elliptical]] [[orbit|orbits]] not [[circle|circular]] ones.


* Tutorials on routing for the [[North American Network Operators Group]].<ref name=twsMar14o>{{cite news
Scientists may have reasons &mdash; actual or perceived &mdash; to withhold or delay the release of data: For instance, they may need time to investigate data fully to remove artifacts or to prevent valuable information from being overlooked. The data may also contain the seed for a [[scientific paper|publication]], [[patent]] or [[business model]], or private information about patients. It is possible, as well, that a scientist may selectively pick and choose data which supports a given conclusion while ignoring outliers, perhaps to make a case for a specific hypothesis. In such an instance, revealing the entire data set may allow other researchers to use their own data to prove them wrong. Conversely, making data available as they arise lends additional credit to the researchers involved, and making it available in a reusable form (i.e. in some standard format and with proper annotations) may allow others to build upon their work even ahead of formal publication.  
|author= Howard C. Berkowitz
|title= Tutorial
|publisher= NANOG
|date= 2010-03-14
|url= http://nanog.org/authors.html
|accessdate= 2010-03-14
}}</ref>


* He wrote [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] RFCs as author or co-author, including RFC 1912 and RFC 2071.<ref> {{Citation
==={{pl|Scientific data}}===
  | first1 = P
Started.
  | last1 = Ferguson
  | first2 = H
  | last2 = Berkowitz
  | title = Network Renumbering Overview: Why would I want it and what is it anyway?
  | year = 1997
  | publisher = IETF
  | url = http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2071.txt
  | id = RFC2071}}</ref>,
RFC 2072<ref> {{Citation
  | first1 = H
  | last1 = Berkowitz
  | title = Router Renumbering Guide
  | year = 1997
  | publisher = IETF
  | url = http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2072.txt
  | id = FDR }}</ref>,
RFC 4098<ref> {{Citation
  | first1 = H
  | last1 = Berkowitz
  | first2 = E
  | last2 = Davies
  | first3 = S
  | last3 = Hares
  | first4 = P
  | last4 = Krishnaswamy
  | first5 = M
  | last5 = Lepp
  | title = Terminology for Benchmarking BGP Device Convergence in the Control Plane
  | year = 2005
  | publisher = IETF
  | url = http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4098.txt
  | id = RFC4098 }}
</ref>


He lives in Cape Cod, [[Massachusetts]].
==={{pl|Open data}}===


==References==
Sometimes data can be used for different purposes by different scientists. While data is often released on the Internet, it's sometimes unclear what guidelines apply as to how the data can be used or whether there are [[copyright]] restrictions. Accordingly, a group of scientists in [[Cambridge, U.K.|Cambridge]], [[United Kingdom|U.K.]] in a pub called the [[Panton Arms]] wrote in September 2009 a set of guidelines called the [[Panton Principles]]. The idea behind this effort is that a scientist, releasing data into the public, can attach a tag to the data indicating that the data is free to use and is not subject to copyright restrictions. Hopefully this will enable future scientists to use data freely without anxiety about any possible [[law|legal]] repercussions.
{{reflist}}

Latest revision as of 02:31, 6 October 2024

Stub Panton Principles

Already started. Further possible additions below.

Principles

But the big incentive for the declaration is for scientists who come across data which has been used in previous studies. Is the data acceptable for using? Are there limitations on what it can used for? Will using a specific set of data generate legal issues? Since many of these issues are unclear, scientists coming across data in the public sphere may face uncertainty about whether they are allowed to access it, use it, study it further, or base new studies on it. It is enough of an issue that a group of scientists have issued a statement known as the Panton Principles.

What the drafters of the Panton Principles want is that when scientists release data, they attach a statement or marker which describes the wishes of the originating scientist regarding the future use of the data. The idea is to come up with an easily understood tag applicable to all data they choose to release, so that others who come across the data will be able to understand what the data creator's intentions were when releasing the data. The hope is, of course, that all data might be freely used for any purpose, but the tag enables this to be more readily understood.

There are concerns that current license formats such as the Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL) and the Creative Commons CC0 are complex from a legal standpoint. And the movement favoring the Panton Principles is, in some respects, a way to simplify matters. One scientist explained that the benefit of declaring data "open" is that it makes it possible for subsequent researchers to use it freely, without fear or anxiety or uncertainty:

The biggest danger is NOT making the assertion that the data is Open. There may be second-order problems from CC0 or PPDL but they are nothing compared to the uncertainty of NOT making this simple assertion. Do not try to be clever and use SA, NC or other restricted licenses. Simply state the data are Open.

A building.
The Panton Arms pub in Cambridge, United Kingdom where the Panton Principles were drawn up.

Walter Jessen explained:

Science is based on building on, reusing and openly criticising the published body of scientific knowledge. For science to effectively function, and for society to reap the full benefits from scientific endeavours, it is crucial that science data be made open. By open data in science we mean that it is freely available on the public internet permitting any user to download, copy, analyse, re-process, pass them to software or use them for any other purpose without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. To this end data related to published science should be explicitly placed in the public domain.[1]

In March 2010, the Panton Principles is an Internet-based initiative calling for a scientist to make an "explicit and robust statement" regarding his or her wishes for the data by using a "recognized waiver or license that is appropriate for data."[2] The call for a set of principles stems in part from a sense that "many widely recognized licenses are not intended for ... data". Licenses such as "Creative Commons" have been described as unsuitable for handling issues such as scientific data.[3]

People in front of a building.
The signers of the Panton Principles in September 2009 included (from left:) Jenny Meyer, Jordan Hatcher, Rufus Pollock, John Wilbanks, Cameron Neylon, Peter Murray-Rust, Carolina Rossini.

An Internet search of about twenty major newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times and BBC News using the search term "Panton Principles" did not find any results on March 23, 2010, although there are Internet sites dealing with scientific issues that have posted comments about the initiative.

Here are the four principles:

  1. When publishing data make an explicit and robust statement of your wishes.
  2. Use a recognized waiver or license that is appropriate for data.
  3. If you want your data to be effectively used and added to by others it should be open as defined by the Open Knowledge/Data Definition – in particular non-commercial and other restrictive clauses should not be used.
  4. Explicit dedication of data underlying published science into the public domain via PDDL or CCZero is strongly recommended and ensures compliance with both the Science Commons Protocol for Implementing Open Access Data and the Open Knowledge/Data Definition.

Why are the principles necessary? A post-doctoral student in Sweden explained in a blog about being perplexed when finding useful data but without any explicit information about what could be done with it. Contacting the creators of the data for permission is cumbersome and slow, and there is the possibility that the initial author of the data is "missing in action". An explicit statement is much preferred.[4] But the idea about using a "waiver or license appropriate for data" was, in the view of this blogger, "debatable", particularly when it came to the possibility of mixing data sets, and prefers the copyleft license approach. He didn't like the non-commercial restrictive clause since, in his view, it doesn't make things easier, and prefers public domain via the PDDL or CCZero licenses.[4]

The statement grew out of discussion between many scientists, although one source credits the launch of the Panton Principles to Jonathan Gray.[5] Cameron Neylon described how the principles came about:

The Principles came out of a discussion in the Panton Arms a pub near to the Chemistry Department of Cambridge University ... Where we found agreement was that for science, and for scientific data, and particularly science funded by public investment, that the public domain was the best approach and that we would all recommend it. ... placing data explicitly, irrevocably, and legally in the public domain satisfies both the Open Knowledge Definition and the Science Commons Principles for Open Data was something that we could all personally sign up to. The end result is something that I have no doubt is imperfect ... Above all, it is a start.[5]

References

  1. Walter Jessen. The Panton Principles for Open Data in Science, Next Generation Science, February 19, 2010. Retrieved on 2010-03-23.
  2. Bill Hooker. Panton Principles for Open Data in Science, Science Commons Symposium, 2010-03-23. Retrieved on 2010-03-23.
  3. The Panton Principles for Open Data in Science. Connected Knowledge (February 19th, 2010). Retrieved on 2010-03-23. “Many widely recognized licenses are not intended for, and are not appropriate for, data or collections of data. A variety of waivers and licenses that are designed for and appropriate for the treatment of data are described here. Creative Commons licenses (apart from CCZero), GFDL, GPL, BSD, etc are NOT appropriate for data and their use is STRONGLY discouraged.”
  4. 4.0 4.1 Egon Willighagen. Panton Principles, Egon Willighagen's Blog, February 19, 2010. Retrieved on 2010-03-23.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Cameron Neylon. The Panton Principles: Finding agreement on the public domain for published scientific data, Science in the Open (blog), 22 February 2010. Retrieved on 2010-03-23. “The launch of the Panton Principles, many months after they were first suggested is really largely down to the work of Jonathan Gray. This was one of several projects that I haven’t been able to follow through properly on and I want to acknowledge the effort that Jonathan has put into making that happen.”

Possible further articles

Stub Data sharing

Picture of a portrait of a man.
Johannes Kepler used data measurements from Tycho Brahe to develop three fundamental laws of planetary motion.

There's a well-known example from the history of astronomy in which one scientist took the data from another in a totally new direction. The Danish scientist Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) worked tirelessly to make accurate measurements of planetary parallax were accurate to the arcminute. By systematic and rigorous observation, night after night, Brahe amassed a comprehensive set of data detailing the positions of the planets and stars. But Brahe was unable to fit his data into a comprehensive theory. After Brahe's death, fellow scientist Johannes Kepler used Brahe's data to develop the Mathematicus Imperialis at the court of emperor Rudolph II in Prague, Czechoslovakia and, using Brahe's data, figured out the three laws of planetary motion, including the fact that planets moved in elliptical orbits not circular ones.

Scientists may have reasons — actual or perceived — to withhold or delay the release of data: For instance, they may need time to investigate data fully to remove artifacts or to prevent valuable information from being overlooked. The data may also contain the seed for a publication, patent or business model, or private information about patients. It is possible, as well, that a scientist may selectively pick and choose data which supports a given conclusion while ignoring outliers, perhaps to make a case for a specific hypothesis. In such an instance, revealing the entire data set may allow other researchers to use their own data to prove them wrong. Conversely, making data available as they arise lends additional credit to the researchers involved, and making it available in a reusable form (i.e. in some standard format and with proper annotations) may allow others to build upon their work even ahead of formal publication.

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Stub Open data

Sometimes data can be used for different purposes by different scientists. While data is often released on the Internet, it's sometimes unclear what guidelines apply as to how the data can be used or whether there are copyright restrictions. Accordingly, a group of scientists in Cambridge, U.K. in a pub called the Panton Arms wrote in September 2009 a set of guidelines called the Panton Principles. The idea behind this effort is that a scientist, releasing data into the public, can attach a tag to the data indicating that the data is free to use and is not subject to copyright restrictions. Hopefully this will enable future scientists to use data freely without anxiety about any possible legal repercussions.