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International Open Access Conference @ EKT

Towards Common European Policies for Innovative Reuse

of Public Sector and Scientific Information 

Open Access in Greece, October 16, 2013

MedOANet European Conference, October 17-18, 2013

Athens, National Hellenic Research Foundation (Vassileos Konstantinou Avenue 48)

Presentations & Videos now available!  

Τhe National Documentation Centre of Greece is organizing the International Open Access Conference @ EKT in Athens from the 16^th  to 18^th of October 2013. It is the third in a series of international conferences focusing at Open Access to scientific knowledge.

The last couple of years have witnessed very important developments with regards to the wide adoption of open access to publicly funded research and the opening up of public sector data. This trend is endorsed by the European Commission’s policies such as the “Digital Agenda 2020”, the “Directive on the Re-use of Public Sector Information” and the “Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information”. 

Lowering the barrier for reuse of the publicly funded research and public data, is expected to boost innovation, help address effectively big environmental, energy and health-related issues and unlock a significant financial potential for Europe.

The conference includes an excellent line-up of international and Greek speakers and is of particular interest to specialists on open access, research policy-makers, such as research funders and research performing institution administrators, students and interested individuals to explore current trends in Open Access in Greece and Europe.

The conference comprises two parts:

The first part (16^th October) focuses on recent policies and initiatives supporting open access with regards to public sector information and scientific research, with a particular focus in developments in Greece. Presentations include the Ministry of Finances’ Open Government inititatives and the country’s participation to the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the design of a National Strategic Plan for Open Government, and data.gov.gr, the new central online space for making available public sector data. Other topics covered include national policies and projects in the area of open data, open research and science. Last but not least, the floor is taken by important civil society initiatives promoting the reuse of open data as a means to fight corruption, to promote transparency and to enhance citizen participation in the public sphere.

MedOANet Final Conference (October 17th and 18th)

The second part of the conference is the final conference of MedOANet (www.medoanet.eu), a European project coordinated by the National Documentation Centre (EKT/NHRF) to promote the implementation of coordinated open access policies among Mediterranean European countries. The final conference of MedOANet will serve to present the results of the project, placing them in the wider European perspectives on Open Access policies, and providing a forum for the current debate on Open Access policy implementation practices within the EU. Specifically, the final conference will focus on best practices in policy implementation among research funders and research performing institutions, as well as a discussion regarding the role of open access within the European Research Area. Speakers include representatives of the European Commission and important stakeholders involved in the implementation of the European Research Area such as the European University Association, the League of European Research Universities and Science Europe.

The program of the International Open Access Conference @ EKT will include presentations by renowned experts and representatives from the areas of research and Open Access. The conference is of special interest for institutions that are involved in research policy and research performing institutions.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science will address a video taped opening message to the Conference.

Admission to all the conference is free, however online registration prior to the event is required. Registration Form

The Conference will be broadcasted live at www.ekt.gr/events/live.

Contact: vkala@ekt.gr