CoNOSC Members discuss knowledge security and Open Science

Nineteen countries attended the online CoNOSC Members meeting on 19 November 2024. SPARC Europe, as facilitator of CoNOSC, invited Dr Peter Weijland, Programme Director Knowledge Security at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), to address the critical topic of knowledge/information/research security and Open Science.

Dr Weijland argued that Open Science and knowledge security are clearly complementary, not oppositional. This argument reflects the Dutch government’s definition of knowledge security as preventing: the unwanted transfer of sensitive knowledge and technology whereby national security is compromised, the covert influence by other states on education and research, and any ethical issues that may arise in cooperation with states that do not respect fundamental (human) rights. Knowledge security policies and implementation processes protect researchers with a framework that keeps Open Science practices possible. He demonstrated how the knowledge security policy and tools developed by Delft University of Technology enable open research practices by safeguarding academic freedom from malicious state actors. He proposed that knowledge security policies should respect human rights by taking non-discrimination and physical safety measures for all researchers, provide social security to international researchers, and facilitate joint research with all countries.

In the ensuing discussion, CoNOSC members shared their views on how to advance national Open Science policy while knowledge security remains a high-priority concern. Many members agreed with Dr Weijland that Open Science and knowledge security are indeed complementary and that policymakers in these areas must work together on national levels, where it can be considered of great advantage to have OS policymakers serve as advisors or experts in knowledge security policy discussions, as recently seen in Norway. One member argued that cybersecurity and the care for sensitive data must also be factored into any definition of knowledge security. 

Several members noted how critical it is for researchers to become aware of how to conduct secure research with Open Science practices, since many European research funders and institutions already operate on the policy of ‘As open as possible, as closed as necessary.’ They insisted that researchers’ competence in ethical and responsible research and the FAIR principles is essential to ensuring knowledge security, especially in handling open data. Researchers are increasingly carrying out good practice here by creating data management plans that define how their data should be used and reused and by whom. Tools and services should be further developed to support researchers in creating safe and open research environments, in order to warrant and foster the trust of researchers and other stakeholders in Open Science, policies, and infrastructures. 

The attention to knowledge security and investment therein is stark: one country spoke of 2 policymakers on Open Science versus 25-30 policy advisers on knowledge security.

In anticipation of the December 2024 G7 Conference, where a change to the naming of the FAIR principles will be tabled, there was debate about whether an ‘S’ for ‘Security’ should be added to the acronym ‘FAIR.’ Some members resisted this proposal because security is already specified in the principles of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse of digital assets. Others approved of changing the acronym to ‘FAIRS’ so that security would become more visibly integral to the principles behind Open Science. 

It was acknowledged, however, that the Open Science community has not yet been successful in communicating how openness and security relate to each other. This can make it difficult for researchers and research managers across Europe to understand when to share content and when to withhold it to protect national security interests. This uncertainty can arise from siloed and sometimes unaligned Open Science, Innovation and Security policies. Multilateral discussions are vital.

It was again concluded that Open Science complements knowledge security. Since it is the researcher who takes the action to share publicly funded research responsibly and effectively, it is upon us, as policymakers, to develop a framework that safeguards Open Science, research integrity, innovation, and the protection of our national interests. 

Links

• Knowledge Security Dossier, TU Delft 
• Council Recommendation on Enhancing Research Security 
• Council Conclusions on High-Quality, Transparent, Open, Trustworthy and Equitable Scholarly Publishing, 2023
• Council Conclusions on Research Assessment and Implementation of Open Science, 2022

Image: Gorodenkoff, https://stock.adobe.com