This morning, in the European Parliament, Maria da Graça Carvalho hosted the working breakfast "Open Access to Data in Horizon 2020". The debate was organised by the European Commission, DG CONNECT, in the framework of the 4th European Innovation Summit which took place on 9 and 10 October in the European Parliament (see programme here).
During her intervention Maria da Graça Carvalho, outlined the state of play in the Parliament with regard to H2020, then gave an overview of the stakes involved in open access research and concluded speaking about the negotiations over the budget for the period 2014-2020.
The other speakers of the meeting were Thierry Van der Pyl, European Commission, DG CONNECT. Representing the point of view of the Universities there were Françoise Genova, Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg, and Paul Ayris, LERU and University College London; representing the Industry was Jan van den Biesen, Philips Research; representing the Research funders was Dave Carr, Wellcome-Trust; representing Research organisations was Salvatore Mele, CERN and Coordinator of Opportunities for Data Exchange (ODE).
Open access to research data can create significant benefits for Europe's innovation capacity, but only if designed and implemented in an efficient and responsible manner. The session tried to contribute for this important discussion in the framework of Horizon 2020 and addressed the following issues: