Andrew Lyons, a researcher at the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) of the University of California, wrote a blogpost about the FAIR principles, the GO FAIR initiative and what it means for agricultural research.
“ANR academics are impacted by the data tsunami in at least two ways (neither for good). Like all practicing scientists, we have to deal with the usual challenges of managing large volumes of data, the frustrations of not being able to find or use data that others have collected, and the burden of all the gymnastics one must do to combine data from different sources into a robust, repeatable analysis. On top of that, as public servants whose work is funded by taxpayers, we have an additional moral and legal responsibility to be good stewards of all data collected for our public mission, which means ensuring the data we collect remains discoverable and accessible for other studies. Similarly, our extension mission also requires us to help California growers and land stewards get the most value from the data they collect, with tools that address their requirements for privacy and security,” writes Lyons. Read the full blogpost.