H P ARNESSING THE OWER of D D IGITAL ATA for S S CIENCE AND OCIETY Report of the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data to the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council January 2009 Report Documentation Page Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. 1. REPORT DATE 3. DATES COVERED JAN 2009 2. REPORT TYPE 00-00-2009 to 00-00-2009 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Harnessing the Power of Digital Data for Science and Society 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION National Science and Technology Council,Committee on REPORT NUMBER Science,Washington,DC 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S) 12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF ABSTRACT OF PAGES RESPONSIBLE PERSON a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE Same as 60 unclassified unclassified unclassified Report (SAR) Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 Cover Design by Terri S. Lloyd, Information International Associates, Inc. Cover image courtesy of the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics, at the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Original photo by R. Thompson, modified by Information International Associates, Inc., with the permission of the owner. HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY Report of the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data to the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council January 2009 January 14, 2009 Dear Colleague, Digital technologies are reshaping the practice of science. Digital imaging, sensors, analytical instrumentation and other technologies are becoming increasingly central to experimental and observational research in all areas of science. Increases in computational capacity and capability drive more powerful modeling, simulation, and analysis to link theory and experimentation and extend the reach of science. Improvements in network capacity and capability continually increase access to information, instrumentation, and colleagues around the globe. Digital data are the common thread linking these powerful trends in science. Our Nation’s continuing leadership in science relies increasingly on effective and reliable access to digital scientific data. Researchers and students who can find and re-use digital data are able to apply them in innovative ways and novel combinations for discovery and understanding. The return on the Nation’s investment in generating or acquiring scientific data is multiplied when data are reliably preserved for continuing, creative use. Remote, networked access can lower barriers to participation, allowing citizens in settings throughout the country to benefit from and participate in our Nation’s science endeavors. Responding to the opportunities and needs created by these trends, the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on Science formed the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data. The Group was charged with creating a strategic plan for the Federal government to foster the development of a framework for reliable preservation and effective access to digital scientific data. This report, Harnessing the Power of Digital Data for Science and Society, provides a set of first principles that guide a vision, strategy, tactical goals, and implementation plans for the Federal government, acting as both leader and partner, to work with all sectors of our society to enable reliable and effective digital data preservation and access. I commend this plan as an important step in addressing the digital data preservation and access needs of our Nation’s science and engineering research and education enterprise. Sincerely, John H. Marburger, III Director Interagency Working Group on Digital Data Participants List _____________________________________________________ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Tim Erny Joe Bredekamp Martha Maiden Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Tim Morris National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Robert Chadduck Department of Commerce (DoC) Kenneth Thibodeau National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) Cita Furlani National Institutes of Health (NIH) Department of Commerce (DoC) Donald King National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Science Foundation (NSF) (NOAA) Sylvia Spengler William Turnbull Networking and Information Technology Helen Wood Research and Development (NITRD) Department of Defense (DoD) Robert Bohn Office of the Director Defense Research Chris Greer & Engineering (ODDR&E) Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) R. Paul Ryan Charles Romine Department of Energy (DOE) Smithsonian Institution George Seweryniak Martin Elvis Walter Warnick Giuseppina Fabbiano Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA/ERS) Joseph Kielman Paul Gibson Department of State U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA/ARS) Bie Yie Ju Fox Ronnie Green Department of Veterans Affairs Kevin Hackett Brenda Cuccherini U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Joe Francis Anne Frondorf Timothy O’Leary IWGDD Executive Secretary Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Bonnie Carroll Randy Levin National Science Foundation (NSF) Institute of Museum and Library Services Committee on Science Executive Secretary Joyce Ray Marta Cehelsky Library of Congress (LoC) Mayra Montrose Babak Hamidzadeh PAGE iv — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY Table of Contents _____________________________________________________ Interagency Working Group on Digital Data Participants List........... ....... .. ....iv Executive Summary........... ....... .. ..... .. .... 1 Introduction ..... ......... .. ..... .. ....... .. .... 3 The Current Data Landscape ........... .. ..... .. ... 6 Guiding Principles........... ....... .. ..... .. .... 10 Strategic Framework, Recommendations, and Goals.... .......... .. ..... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... . 13 _____________________________________________________ A A ppendix Interagency Working Group on Digital Data Terms of Reference (Charter) ............A1 A B ppendix Digital Data Life Cycle .. ....... .. ................ B1 A C ppendix Organizations, Individuals, Roles, Sectors, and Types ...C1 A d ppendix Related Documents.......... .. ..... .. ....... .. ..D1 HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE v PAGE vi — HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY Executive Summary This report provides a strategy to ensure that digital scientific data can be reliably preserved for maximum use in catalyzing progress in science and society. Empowered by an array of new digital technologies, science in the 21st century will be conducted in a fully digital world. In this world, the power of digital information to catalyze progress is limited only by the power of the human mind. Data are not consumed by the ideas and innovations they spark but are an endless fuel for creativity. A few bits, well found, can drive a giant leap of creativity. The power of a data set is amplified by ingenuity through applications unimagined by the authors and distant from the original field. Key characteristics of the current digital data landscape are: • the products of science and the starting point for new research are increasingly digital and increasingly “born-digital”; • exploding volumes and rising demand for data use are driven by the rapid pace of digital technology innovations; • all sectors of society are stakeholders in digital preservation and access; and • a comprehensive framework for cooperation and coordination to manage the risks to preservation of digital data is missing. The following guiding principles were deduced from an analysis of the current digital scientific data landscape. These are based on the expertise of the members of the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data (IWGDD), supplemented by input from outside experts and documentation from major studies of the challenges and opportunities presented by a fully digital world. These guiding principles are: • science is global and thrives in the digital dimensions; • digital scientific data are national and global assets; • not all digital scientific data need to be preserved and not all preserved data need to be preserved indefinitely; • communities of practice are an essential feature of the digital landscape; • preservation of digital scientific data is both a government and private sector responsibility and benefits society as a whole; • long-term preservation, access, and interoperability require management of the full data life cycle; and • dynamic strategies are required. The strategic framework, recommendations, and goals presented in this report are founded on these guiding principles. VISION AND STRATEGY We envision a digital scientific data universe in which data creation, collection, documentation, analysis, preservation, and dissemination can be appropriately, reliably, and readily managed. This will enhance the return on our nation’s research and development investment by ensuring that digital data realize their full potential as catalysts for progress in our global information society. HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY — PAGE 1