Agriculture communities around the globe produce massive amounts of information and knowledge based on Earth observations. This data is collected in a variety of ways, exists in numerous forms and formats, and is often the product of projects of limited duration. However, these projects are generally the engine that drives innovation and the development of operational solutions for agricultural monitoring. In order to maximize the impact of our collective investments in research to operations the results and outcomes of these efforts need to be stored, harmonized and sustained and made openly accessible for the future.

Fortunately, the agricultural community is well aware of the need for a more systematic approach to knowledge management and there are a number of initiatives working to address the need (eg. GEO, EO4Agri, GEOGLAM, GODAN, Plan4all).

Foteini Zampati, GODAN's resident expert on data rights and ethics, will be attending a side event of the GEO Week Ministerial Summit in Canberra, Australia, on 4 November 2019, where she will be discussing an Ethical Framework for Open Data in Agriculture and Capacity Development. Taking into account recent research work recently facilitated by the Data Rights and Responsible Data Working Group.

The side event on Knowledge Management for Agriculture intends to explore how knowledge management is being addressed by a number of key actors, and look at ways the community can work together to leverage efforts towards the development of a common approach. It is intended that the session will develop consensus-based actions to move towards a common knowledge management solution.