By Associate Professor Lucy Montgomery – co-lead Curtin Open Knowledge Initiative (COKI) project.
At a time when universities across the world are re-examining their operation and structure as a result of the impacts of the virus, it is COVID-19 that also points a way forward – elevating the esteem for university research and showcasing the effectiveness of open knowledge practices.
The Curtin Open Knowledge Initiative (COKI) is working with partners around the world to examine the ramifications of this new reality for higher education. Drawing on evidence from the world’s leading database on open knowledge practice, our project team are producing a range of tools to measure and understand how open knowledge universities can play a key role in the future of their communities.
Futuristic library/Unsplash, Kuma Kum
Around the world, respect for the work of university researchers appears to have risen as a result of the central role of university researchers in tackling the virus.
A recent opinion poll commissioned by the UK Open Knowledge Foundation found that 64% of voters were more likely to trust expert advice from scientists – an outcome which anecdotally appears to resonate around the world.
Most importantly, the poll found that 97% of people believed it was important for information to be free to use, re-use or distribute information relating to COVID-19. The poll comes hot on the heels of a UNESCO initiative to promote open science and greater collaboration across 122 countries to fight the virus.
Openness of the data, research conclusions and expert analysis of universities has never been more topical. However, based on past performance, there is no certainty that collaboration and information sharing will continue – or in some disciplines, simply begin – once the virus is gone.
There is recent evidence of a genuine desire among many universities and research funders to improve equity of access to research results, diversity of students and staff and impact from their knowledge making activities.
However, open knowledge aspirations are often stymied by comparative rankings that are built on data that excludes the work of entire disciplines, continents and languages; and which are not capable of capturing important aspects of the value that universities create.
The COKI project is shedding new light on how an open knowledge university should operate in order to provide opportunities for talented individuals from a range of backgrounds to create, learn and share in the knowledge creation and propagation process.
The project team have developed capability to cast a new light on research performance at a national, institutional, discipline and even individual researcher level and plan to develop a range of new tools to assist universities in the development of open knowledge practices in 2020 and beyond.
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