Intro to Open Science and Open Data

How did open science, citizen science, and open data get started? Where are they? Why we need it.

At the foundation of open knowledge is open science. Open science has a companion, who should always be a full partner, called open data. We need to have the tools to explore the universe, communicate what we’ve discovered, and build upon that discovery. Unfortunately, this basic ability has been co-opted by organizations that aim to be gatekeepers to knowledge. Organizations like Elsevier, Springer , and Hindawi are operating as these gatekeepers and their reach keeps expanding as they devour smaller publishers and journals.

The cost of this gatekeeping is immense. For one thing, the exorbitant access fees cost universities, other schools, and individuals billions of dollars in fees that could be used for other purposes. There’s also a cost in time and innovation. Why? This happens because these organizations don’t make their decisions to publish based on science but on the possible impact the publication of the article might raise. This leads the organizations to turn down reconfirmations of other studies or marginal increases in the information. This means that, most often, that researchers must resubmit and resubmit before it gets accepted. The cost of time lost is immense. According to Kamila Markram,

“Of the 2 million science articles that are published every year, at least 1 million valid research articles are first rejected and bounced. Just one bounce delays the publication by at least six months. And that means the total delay introduced to publish valid research is at least 500,000 years.”

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPtP6-nAjJ0
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Open Source Is Everywhere in Space Exploration

The use of Open Source technology has been growing in space exploration and advocacy movements. The reasons and benefits are manifold. It lowers cost. It gives companies or organizations direct access to the internals of the hardware and software. It allows you to leverage the power of a very large community of participants to help develop solutions. Space organizations, from big to small, are embracing this path forward.

The first instance I am aware of where this is explicitly true was in 2013, but that may have simply been the first one brought to the public’s attention. The reason for the change came from a security breach at the International Space Station.

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Who is Caycee And What is Open Knowledge?

Introduction

My name is Cacyee Dee Neely, or as many people do, just Dee. I am a programmer, CAD designer, ethicists, philosopher, and researcher with a focus on the application of open source, or open knowledge, applied to the area of space settlement. I have an Associates degree in Computer Science and almost done with a Bachelors in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics from Southern New Hampshire University. As an obsession, I am also a taxonomist working on developing a complete ecosystem of all knowledge and information. I am the Open Knowledge Correspondent for the collective blogging effort of the Living Universe Foundation.

I have been a space exploration advocate for a long time. As long as I can remember and the birth of that fascination was, as it was for so many, Star Trek. The principles of egalitarianism, tolerance, and science promoted by Gene Roddenberry provided a firm foundation for my entire life’s philosophy. Of course, there are also many other influences on my work. One of the most significant factors was reading The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps by Marshall T. Savage. Which, naturally, led to my connection to the Living Universe Foundation. The question, however, is how best to achieve those goals. I believe that Open Knowledge is a critical aspect of that work. What is Open Knowledge?

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