Note: This article is a part of the publication ‘Science diplomacy capacity development: Reflections on Diplo’s 2021 course and the road ahead’
Scientific research has relied on a subscription based model for dissemination since the 17th century. Even after the digital revolution, this model (controlled by oligopoly giants) seems to continue to pose a barrier to sharing knowledge and the value of science as a common good. According to UNESCO, 70% of scientific publication was locked behind paywalls until the COVID-19 pandemic (Burke 2021).
Open Science (OS) is key for innovation, efficiency, and transparency, and it establishes lines of communication and social engagement. It further makes knowledge accessible to diverse groups outside academia (Besançon 2021). Communication and trust are essential for Science Diplomacy (SD), whereas paywalls do the opposite. My workspace defends the need for all science to be open, as a basic human right (GESDA 2021), and fosters SD.
COVID-19 clearly revealed the importance of OS to combat the virus and its aftereffects. Open circulation of knowledge was a key reason for the “fast forward” to COVID-19 pandemic recovery. We brought in various stakeholders including scientists, funders, and policymakers, and created an open platform to share content freely (Coronavirus Hub (2020)). According to Scopus (2020), Cardiovascular disease has been another pandemic in itself, affecting double the number of humans and resulting in four times the number of deaths (Ritchie and Roser 2019) as COVID-19. But only 26% of Cardiovascular research is freely accessible without paywalls or Open Access (OA).
OA is still neglected in the area of climate crisis and mitigation. According to Tai and Robinson (2018), an only 4% share of climate research was OA in 2007, which increased to 25% in 2018. Thanks to the pandemic, the importance of OA has resonated with international agencies (UNESCO 2020). Public participation and policy engagement is the need of the hour to face the climate crisis, and science communication needs to move to rocket speed, in the same way that mitigated the pandemic. Even though the oligopoly subscription market has not been opening its gates, agencies are making efforts to make climate research open (Creative Commons 2021).
My role involves amplifying the voices of these key stakeholders in the direction of OS (Policy Labs 2022), supporting consultations regarding national OA policies with evidence based research to drive policy decisions, like the UNESCO recommendation (Frontiers 2021), and working closely with young researchers in driving change, as they are the missing link in the Science and Policy puzzle (Morgan 2022).
These coordinated efforts have made the oligopoly subscription giants engage with OS, reluctantly, with complicated transformative agreements which enable double dipping of funds and extending paywalls to beyond 2024, the deadline set by Plan S (Widmark 2021).
The roots of the issue lie in the long-standing research assessment system which depends on metric-based evaluations that do not really indicate research quality. This is a result of miscommunication wherein science and policy speak different languages, and there is thus a great need for mutual alignment. DORA, EUA, SPARC have expressed the need to change this set up with their call for action to policymakers/governments (Saenen 2021). Similar collaborative efforts through Science Diplomacy are being designed at the funding and government levels (Zubașcu 2022).
My role as a ‘boundary spanner’ involves bridging the different stakeholders for OS to become the norm, and this indeed involves a clear focus on Science in Diplomacy. Busting OA myths and educating policymakers on the benefits and significance of OA is important. This surely involves a collaborative effort between the public, private and governmental sectors.
You may also be interested in
Knowledge management and diplomacy
In this paper we aim to provide a comprehensive introduction to the topic of knowledge management in diplomacy. First we provide working definitions of knowledge and knowledge management, and examine the evolution of the concepts. Next, we consider specific features of diplomacy that affect and limit the way knowledge management can be implemented. Then we look at specific techniques which diplomacy can adapt from the business sector in the field of knowledge management. Finally, we consider some important questions related to human resources and knowledge management.
DiploDialogue – Metaphors for Diplomats
On Diplo’s blog, in Diplo’s classrooms, and at Diplo’s events, dialogues stretch over a series of entries, comments, and exchanges and may even linger. DiploDialogue summarises. It’s like in sports events: DiploDialogue aims to bring focus by deleting what, in hindsight, is less relevant. In this first DiploDialogue, Katharina Höne and Aldo Matteucci discuss the usefulness of analogies and metaphors for understanding international relations and diplomacy.
Knowledge management in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malta
In this paper, Maltese diplomat Gaetan Naudi explains how the Maltese MFA embraced the changes introduced by the informatics era. He looks at such changes from a business management perspective, to show how ICTs were introduced to such a fairly large organisation, the concerns raised by the changes, and the progress on computerised knowledge management. He concludes that despite the positive changes introduced thanks to ICTs, this would not have been possible without human involvement.
Knowledge management and international development – the role of diplomacy
In this chapter, Walter Fust talks about the role of knowledge management, and knowledge for development, in diplomacy. He describes various methods to assess what knowledge should be stocked, and explains the need for managers who are assigned the task of deciding what should be stocked. These decisions need to be guided by principles, or guidelines - referred to as value management.
How do you know what you think you know?
In his paper, J. Thomas Converse focuses on four records-related areas where the issues of knowledge management and diplomacy come together and provide the greatest challenges to archivists, diplomats, historians and technology providers: validation, trustworthiness, context and longevity. He also explores some of the changes and challenges brought about by technology, and urges for a continued embrace of technology, while at the same time demanding the validating and relational functions which give archives their trustworthiness.
Science diplomacy capacity development
Diplo has a track record of more than 20 years of capacity development in diplomacy. Given the increasing relevance of science diplomacy, expanding our program to include aspects of its theory and practice felt like an organic development. We offered our ten-week Science Diplomacy course for the first time in October 2021.
Knowledge management: experience from international organisations
In this chapter, John Pace decribes the three-phase evolution of knowledge management in the human rights program of the United Nations. The realisation that knowledge management is a necessity came during the third phase. The author also describes the complex system of monitoring bodies and ad hoc mechanisms, and the developments that took place following four decisions taken in the mid-eighties.
Knowledge and Diplomacy
Knowledge and Diplomacy presents papers on knowledge and knowledge management from the January 1999 Conference on Knowledge and Diplomacy in Malta. The papers in this book, examining the topic from a variety of backgrounds, academic interests and orientations, reflect the multidisciplinary character of knowledge management. This publication is only available online.
The role of knowledge in the cyber-age of globalisation
In his paper, Richard Falk reflects on the application of information technology on diplomacy, and discusses the challenge of converting information technology to ‘knowledge technology’, and subsequently to ‘wisdom technology’. Yet, the ‘crossroads in human experience’ brings many challenges and dangers which the author analyses.
Knowledge and Diplomacy – Alex Sceberras Trigona
In his paper, Alex Sceberras Trigona stresses the importance of the diplomatic document as a primary source of diplomatic knowledge, in the light of the distinction between ‘information’ (can be recorded) and knowledge (not easily recorded), the flow of knowledge as information. He then explains the need for dissecting diplomatic documents, and the various level of analysis which are possible, and the effects of digitalisation on knowledge, information and diplomacy.
Science & Diplomacy: How countries interact with the Boston innovation ecosystem
Crucial global topics are becoming increasingly dependent on the world’s rapidly changing scientific knowledge and technological capabilities: from global health to digital society, sustainability to development, and beyond. To tackle this growing complexity, countries increasingly seek to engage with international science and technology hubs like Boston, so as to accelerate their ability to innovate and spark collaborative efforts with other nations.
Knowledge management and diplomatic training – new approaches for training institutions
Dietrich Kappeler analyses the new approaches for training institutions in knowledge management and diplomatic training, departing from the premise that a distinction is important between personal characteristics and qualities of the diplomat on one hand, and the knowledge and skills he needs to do his job on the other.
Knowledge management and change in international organisations: Learning from the private sector
In this paper, John Harper and Jennifer Cassingena Harper talk about knowledge as a vital resource, and the necessity of building competencies and establishing new skills. Analysing the theories by Ernst B. Haas in When Knowledge is Power: Three Models of Change in International Organisation, the authors trace the development of knowledge-oriented activities in the private sector, and its implications for organisations in the public and international domain.
Beyond diplomatic – the unravelling of history
In his paper, Robert Alston travels through time to rekindle an important highlight – as well as a personal highlight – in the history of knowledge management. His journey takes him back to the 1850s, which saw Antonio Panizzi’s efforts in creating a universal repository of knowledge in the British Museum; and to the 1990s, a time in which he acquired first-hand experience at the same museum, drawing conclusions on the various available ways of navigating large bibliographical and archival databases.
