About
GODAN is coordinating efforts to explore issues of open data, data ownership and data governance in the context of agriculture and nutrition. Two significant papers, addressing the issues involved, have already come out of the work: Responsible Data in Agriculture, and; Ownership of Open Data: Governance Options for Agriculture and Nutrition. Our next step is to convene a Working Group building on the outputs of these papers, and we intend to use the research as a catalyst to further debate and action.
We aim to identify gaps and develop solutions through policy and legal frameworks to help ensure fair distribution of the benefits of open data, increasing motivation among actors involved in agriculture and nutrition, to use open data and make it more readily available.
Main Objectives
The main objective of this Group is to develop a clearer position on data ownership and responsibilities, and to highlight the often complex legal issues related to open data in the areas of law, data protection, intellectual property rights (copyrights, patents, database rights, breeder’s rights...), licensing contracts, traditional knowledge and personal privacy. This can be achieved by analysing legal regulations and socio-political actors at play. We aim to draw attention to these burning issues, to initiate a constructive and productive discussion, and to produce tangible outcomes and solutions.
Our first step will be to look at systems of governance that support a fairer, more equal distribution of benefits, and where transactions are based on mutual interest and trust. Such systems can be implemented through laws and policies as well as codes of conduct, regulation and social agreements, depending on the individual situations and needs of the communities in question.
The agricultural sector can be strengthened through greater collaboration, awareness of open data rights, ownership issues and possible solutions. External stakeholders would need to act taking into consideration the need and rights of other parties involved. The aim is also to initiate further independent activities.
We are going to build our work on two pillars, looking at both developed and developing countries:
1a. Africa
1b. Asia
2a. Europe
2b. USA
2c. Australia
We will examine the different issues and gaps faced by these regional areas, and different approaches may be needed culturally, financially and politically. However, we will ensure that the legal approach focuses on all actors involved (for example, farmers, consumers and researchers).
Key Topics
- Ethics
- Policy
- Soft law
- Legislation
- International Treaty
- Ownership
- Intellectual Property
- Data rights
- Privacy
- Security
- Data protection
We will collaborate with different actors:
- Farmers
- Farmers’ associations.
- Governments/public sector.
- Researchers
- Private sector
The goal is to create a network that enables inclusive participation of all actors (including small stakeholders) in sustainable agri-food systems, through fairer data sharing.
We will explore how best practices implemented in some countries could be replicated, and used to benefit, other countries (taking into consideration financial barriers, climate change, culture and politics, all of which vary across countries and continents).
Taking good governance examples from local, national and regional model frameworks, we will look at how they can be used as an example for larger-scale legal systems.
Independent bodies can be used to inspect data-related practices, ensuring records are consistent and adhere to best practices along the entire value chain.
Status: Active
How to Join
Request to join the Working Group discussions mailing list: wg-Datarights@godan.info
Working Group Contact: Foteini Zampati [Foteini.Zampati@godan.info]