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| Titel |
Ethics issues in scientific data and service provision: evidence and challenges for the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) |
| VerfasserIn |
Massimo Cocco, Carmela Freda, Florian Haslinger, Epos Consortium |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2016
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
en
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 18 (2016) |
| Datensatznummer |
250123981
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-3333.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Addressing Ethics issues is nowadays a relevant challenge for any initiative, program or
project dealing with scientific data and products provision, access to services for scientific
purposes and communication with different stakeholders, including society. This is
corroborated by the evidence that Ethics has very high priority in EU funded research.
Indeed, all the activities carried out under Horizon 2020 must comply with ethical
principles and national, Union and international legislation. This implies that “For all
activities funded by the European Union, Ethics is an integral part of research from
beginning to end, and ethical compliance is seen as pivotal to achieve real research
excellence.” Here, we present the experience of EPOS, a public pan-European research
infrastructure.
EPOS aims at integrating data, data products, services and software (DDSS) for solid
Earth science generated and provided by monitoring networks, observing systems
and facilities belonging to European countries. EPOS fosters the integrated use of
multidisciplinary solid Earth data to improve the understanding of physical and chemical
processes controlling earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis as well as those driving
tectonics and surface dynamics. The EPOS integration plan will make significant
contributions to understanding and mitigating geo-hazards, yielding data for hazard
assessment, data products for engaging different stakeholders, and services for
training, education and communication to society. Numerous national research
infrastructures engaged in EPOS are deployed for the monitoring of areas prone to
geo-hazards and for the surveillance of the national territory including areas used for
exploiting geo-resources. The EPOS community is therefore already trained to provide
services to public (civil defence agencies, local and national authorities) and private
(petroleum industry, mining industry, geothermal companies, aviation security)
stakeholders.
Our ability to monitor planet Earth is rapidly evolving through the development of new
sensor technology and we can deliver this information with increasing rapidity, integrate it,
provide solutions to scientific challenges and furnish essential information for decision
makers. EPOS is aware that the research promoted by its data and service provision can have
a profound influence on the environment, human health and wellbeing, economic
development, national security, and other facets of human societies. For these reasons EPOS
must address Ethics issues associated with the exploitation of its achievements
involving security issues, use and misuse of data, environmental protection and risk
communication.
The EPOS community feels the obligation to adopt a responsible conduct, both within the
scientific community and in the broader society, exploring the implications of open
provisioning of data and services, up to imposing justified constraints. This requires that
contributing to the DDSS provision cannot be simply limited to activities fostering the
capacity (i.e., ability) to access scientific products, but must promote the creation of
capabilities (i.e., conscious use of data) and the functioning (i.e., activities constitutive of a
scientist’s being) to access and use scientific products in an ethically consistent
way.
We will present and discuss Ethics issues envisaged in EPOS, focusing on the most
relevant for its implementation phase: protection of personal data, misuse of data,
communication, and societal impact. |
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