An information revolution

The Press | Thursday, 13 September 2007

New Zealand scientists need to get aboard the coming revolution in information access, writes DAVID PENMAN.

Social networking, data modelling, real-time measurement, broadband and so on are all bound in the internet age.

It is somewhat ironic that the internet was conceived as a means to share scientific data, yet it is now an enormous vehicle for social change and commercial benefit. Somehow, the scientists have become the laggards in sharing information, yet there are enormous benefits that can come from a greater sharing of data.

We see public sharing of financial data – the stock market, the exchange rate and interest rates – yet we see little evidence of open sharing of other information that affects our lives.

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Professor David Penman is Assistant Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) in the College of Science at the University of Canterbury. He also chairs the Governing Board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility based in Denmark.