[epsi-coord] update on SI hearing and meeting Juan Monday

Wed Jun 1 08:13:01 BST 2011

Hi all,

As discussed I was in Luxembourg Monday, to play note taker for the hearing
on scientific information. I worked out the minutes of that meeting
yesterday and sent it to the Commission (17 pages). I hope it was worth the
effort of spending 24 working hours (including the 900km drive) and 340 Euro
in out of pocket costs.

Other than that, it was ok to be present:

   - I now have a much clearer understanding of the issues involved in
   opening up scientific information (texts, data, software, research
   materials), open access, the forces involved, and how that connects to the
   discussion on extending the PSI Directive's scope. It also seems clear the
   Commission itself is very much in favor of extending open access, and
   connecting it to the re-use notions they already have for PSI.
   - I made some new interesting contacts, as well as found a welcome
   audience for the maps of barriers and solutions to PSI reuse, as outcome of
   the SharePSI workshop
   - I think the minutes of the meeting can be used to create an InfoSheet
   on scientific info in the context of the PSI Directive, and
   - I think the new communication on scientific information due later this
   year (after an on-line public consultation) may warrant a new Topic Report
   somewhere at the end of 2011.

   - Both Juan and Richard seemed pleased to see me, and appreciate me being
   there "on such short notice".

I had an informal conversation, albeit very short, with Juan, of which the
main points are:

   - He's pleased with the news service ("you have picked up everything we
   thought important and were aware of ourselves")
   - He was interested in the new draft for the Scoreboard, and will want to
   discuss the questions we asked in the document (see attached what I gave
   him)
   - He'll read the new TR draft and respond
   - He was pleased to hear about the work being done on the back end of the
   site (data migration) and that there's a new design in the works.
   - I told him I thought things were going slower than I hoped, to which he
   smiled "they always do"
   - I told him I think it's very important to see a change in look and feel
   before mid July (when I go on holiday), even if the entire site isn't ready
   yet then, the basics should be in place. (So from now on, I'll work on
   making that happen, next to the infosheets and news ;) )
   - I will meet Juan in Madrid next week Thursday, and we'll talk more
   about the documents I gave him (TR, Dashboard, design). EC is closed on Thur
   and Fri. this week.
   - Told him about other things in the background, the mission meetings
   etc. That we now have 2 legal cases, and 3 guest bloggers as content to
   publish.
   - My conclusion is we need to give Juan more frequent updates on what
   we're doing, not as a formal report, but just to let him know we are at work
   and things are happening. (He als said something along the lines of "I need
   things to show to my boss that you're doing the work")
   - Richard told me he was wondering what it meant that there were no
   comments on my SharePSI report "maybe you should have been more
   controversial in your wording, or maybe the absence of comments in itself is
   a signal"

No indication of real feelings of unease, with Juan nor Richard. Richard
actively engaged me in conversation on some of the news items, clearly
showing he's read them. So they are looking at it closely and also using it
(he was internally following up on an item I wrote about Poland e.g.). So if
we keep cracking, and making it more visible to Juan, even if it's work in
the background, we'll be fine.

I intend to let Juan informally know in Spain that I think the effort for
the hearing is maybe not consistent with the scope of the project. (Unlike
SharePSI and DAA PSI workshop, btw)

And how is it with you guys?

best,

Ton

-------------------------------------------
Interdependent Thoughts
Ton Zijlstra

ton at tonzijlstra.eu
+31-6-34489360

http://zylstra.org/blog
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