Towards open environmental data

Personal experiences and some encouragement

Dr. Jari Lyytimäki

Finnish Environment Institute

(SYKE)

Helsinki, 29.4.2015

Photo: CC-BY-2.0 Lin Kristensen

All things bright and beautiful…

Why should we care about open data?

● More efficient utilization of materials

● Permanent and coordinated storage of data

● Opportunities for comparisons in time and space

● Possibilities for new openings and ideas

● Enhances the accountability and transparency of science

● Who pays for the open data?

● What if somebody steals my precious data?

● How to deal with sensitive datasets?

Many of the problems are already tacked:

● National resource centre for social science research and

teaching

● Archives and disseminates quantitative and qualitative

research data in digital format

● Promotes open access to research data as well as

transparency, accumulation and efficient reuse of scientific

research

● Free of charge to researchers

● Includes over 1,000 data sets

● Online data service Aila:

https://services.fsd.uta.fi/index?lang=en

Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD)

● National web-survey on light pollution: Suomalaisten

näkemyksiä valosaasteesta 2011-2012, FSD2961: https://services.fsd.uta.fi/catalogue/FSD2961

● National-level results from media content analysis on

climate change and eutrophication: Uutisointi

ilmastonmuutoksesta ja rehevöitymisestä 1990-2010, FSD2828: https://services.fsd.uta.fi/catalogue/FSD2828

● International expert online survey on chemical risks:

Kumulatiiviset kemikaaliriskit ja epävarmuudet 2006, FSD2485: https://services.fsd.uta.fi/catalogue/FSD2485

● International online expert survey on coastal

management: Ecological Thresholds in Coastal Areas

2008, FSD2486: https://services.fsd.uta.fi/catalogue/FSD2486

Examples of our materials stored by FSD

Personal experiences and expectations

● Already when planning the research, think about open data

○ Should I go for it?

○ What could I learn from previous datasets?

● Submit the data already during the research process (you

can decide when it is made public)

● Make use of resources offered to you (FSD provides a great

service, free of charge!)

● Wait patiently if your data will be used (FSD sends an

annual usage report).

● While waiting, consider if you have old datasets that could

be made publicly available.

● If tired of waiting, seek actively opportunities for reusing

data.

I like books, but sometimes electronic

open access archives just are more

convenient

Photo: CC-BY-2.0 Lin Kristensen