Talk:Open science and research roadmap 2014–2017

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GovLab and Opasnet practices for Finnish science and policy (GOVNET)

Instructions for application:

The application was REJECTED 8th April, 2015 [4].

Abstract

GOVNET produces improved, tested practices and supporting material for performing open science and open, evidence-based governance. GOVNET is a research project that combines knowledge about open science and government from three different lines of development: a) Opasnet web workspace and open policy practice to support open environmental health assessments and related societal decisions; b) the Government Lab at New York University to develop open governance; and c) Innovillage website to support the developing and spreading of good practices in the health and social sector. The project consist of a researcher visit to New York to mutually learn from these developments, and a literature review of related topics. As an output, the project will produce e.g. a high-level seminar, a commentary paper of development suggestions about the recent Open Science and Research Roadmap 2014-2017, and new open science practices that utilise the lessons learned and that will be described and spread using the Innovillage method.

GOVNET tuottaa parannettuja, testattuja käytäntöjä ja niitä tukevaa materiaalia avoimen tieteen tekemiseen ja avoimeen, näyttöön perustuvaan hallintoon. GOVNET on tutkimushanke, joka yhdistää tietämystä avoimesta tieteestä ja avoimesta hallinnosta kolmesta eri kehityslinjasta: a) Opasnet-verkkotyötilasta ja avoimesta päätöksentekokäytännöstä, jotka edistävät ympäristöterveysarviointien tekemistä ja siten yhteiskunnan päätöksentekoa; b) New Yorkin yliopiston GovLab-yksikön kehitystyöstä avoimen hallinnon kehittämiseksi; ja c) Innokylä-verkkosivustosta, joka tukee hyvien käytäntöjen kehittämistä ja juurruttamista sosiaali- ja terveyssektorilla. Projektissa tehdään tutkijavierailu New Yorkiin kuvattujen asioiden oppimiseksi ja opettamiseksi molemminpuolisesti sekä tähän liittyen kirjallisuuskatsaus aiheesta. Projekti tuottaa mm. korkean tason seminaarin, kommenttijulkaisun, joka sisältää kehitysehdotuksia tuoreeseen Avoimen tieteen ja tutkimuksen tiekarttaan, sekä toimintamalleja avoimen tieteen toteuttamiseen. Nämä toimintamallit hyödyntävät hankkeessa opittua ja ne kuvataan ja levitetään Innokylän kautta.

Research plan

Project details

  • Name: GovLab and Opasnet practices for Finnish science and policy (GOVNET)
  • Name in Finnish: GovLab- ja Opasnet-käytännöt suomalaisen tieteen ja päätöksenteon tukena (GOVNET)
  • Principal investigator: Jouni Tuomisto, chief researcher, THL
  • Duration: 1.8.2015 - 31.7.2016
  • Site of research: National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Kuopio and The Government Lab, New York, USA.

Background

Open science and open governance are two parallel mega-trends that both emerge from the idea and observation that more open information and participation tend to produce more robust and fault-free outputs. The partners of this application are pioneers in this area with ideas such as Wiki Government in 2009 [1] and Open Risk Assessment in 2007 [2] (which later on developed into open policy practice in 2014 [3]). Also Innovillage is based on the idea that good practices spread better when they are shared openly and developed together [4].

The GovLab is an organisation within New York University. It is based on ideas of Wiki Government. It develops new practices for open governance. Their key method is to test ideas in practice to see what works. Opasnet is a web workspace for making science-based impact assessments and models to support societal decision making. The web workspace is designed to implement open policy practice, a systematic method to produce relevant information for decision support. Innovillage is a project within the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in Finland[5]. It aims to collect, develop, and share good practices within the health sector, and it is internationally recognised as a major public innovation[6]

The Ministry of Education and Culture has recently published a roadmap toward open science in Finland [7]. Also, the Ministry of Justice is actively involved in the international project Open Government Partnership [8], which promotes e.g. public participation and open knowledge.

Science and policy are even more intertwined than usually acknowledged. A major reason for non-optimal decisions in even developed societies is that not all existing relevant information is available to decision makers at the time of decision. The information is not available, or it is in a format usable by an expert only, or it has not been processed quickly enough to answer timely questions, or it is masked by false information that would not hold against scientific scrutiny.

Paradoxically, the current policy trend is a demand for more evidence-based policy support, but the budget cuts of research and research institutes actually make this harder. This seems to be a no-confidence motion about the capability of research institutes to provide what decision makers need. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop scientific practices to be more useful for the society, and develop policy practices to be capable of demanding for evidence and then be capable of using it as a basis for decisions.

In this project, we join the forces of researchers and policy experts to produce exactly that.

Objectives and expected results

The overall objective of the GOVNET project (outcomes in 2015-2017) is to provide researchers and societal decision makers with good examples, tested practices, and sophisticated tools and other supporting material to change common practices toward open science and open, evidence-based governance. Active dissemination also aims to reduce skepticism against open practices.

The specific objectives of this project for 2015-2016 are to:

  1. bring the open policy practice method into a new setting in the GovLab and test for its applicability,
  2. learn from the GovLab projects about how to implement open governance in Finland and with open science,
  3. based on these lessons learned, develop new practices and tools for open science and open governance,
  4. describe the new practices in platforms that promote their use and further development,
  5. provide ideas and recommendations to open science and open governance processes in Finland.

The key idea of the project is a mutual learning process of several approaches in openness, science, and government. They have different starting points: Opasnet started from risk assessment of environmental pollutants; the GovLab started from public hearings of legal processes with patent applications; and Innovillage started from good practices in health care. Despite different topics, they all realised the importance of openness, participation, and learning in their respective processes. They also understood that their processes were in essence information production processes for practical purposes. Because of this shared philosophical foundation, all these approaches have developed practices and tools that could easily be used also by the other approaches.

However, learning from another approach is hard work, if the aim is more ambitious than just superficial acknowledgement of the other's key points. The development of a deeper, practical understanding of the other approach needs practical work and personal involvement on the topic. In this case, we believe that all of the approaches have unique innovations that will bring enlightenment to the others, and that the shared philosophy makes it easier to understand the merit of these innovations. Therefore, the core of this project is research exchange and collaboration where this mutual hands-on learning and teaching is possible.

The key outputs of this project are guidance materials that help other researchers, authorities, and decision makers learn and use these innovations. In addition, the innovations will be incorporated into the practices and tools. For example, Opasnet is currently an excellent platform for an impact assessment modeller, but its group functionalities for public involvement are not as well developed. We expect that the GovLab's large practical and technical experience and expertise on this helps to improve participation also in Opasnet work. Mutually, open policy practice in Opasnet has clear guidance on how to collect and develop scientific information, and there is even a university course based on this. [9] These are useful new practices for the GovLab. Taken together, the different approaches in this project have a lot to offer to open science and open governance in general.

The project will produce (see more details under Task 4)

  • a peer-reviewed article about open science and open governance based on a literature review and project collaboration,
  • practices for open science and open governance, published in the Innovillage website,
  • recommendations for the open science roadmap,
  • learning material about the most important innovations, and
  • a high-level seminar to disseminate the results to decision makers, authorities and researchers.

Project success can be measured with immediate and long-term indicators. Immediate indicators are straightforward and tell whether the planned outputs were actually produced. We will ask the advisory board (see task 4) to evaluate the quality of the outputs. But they can also be evaluated by e.g. the ministries, the ATT Initiative, or the Academy of Finland.

Also long-term outcomes can be measured, and actually open policy practice gives guidance to evaluate the usefulness potential of outputs already during the work[3]. In addition, both Innovillage and Opasnet can measure the actual use of different tools and practices published in these websites. It will be possible to evaluate whether the recommendations produced by the project are actually implemented. And finally, it is possible to measure the amount of researchers and decision makers that use open practices in their work, although this indicator does not distinguish between factors that actually caused the behavioural change.

In this project, there are resources allocated to the output evaluation by the advisory board and against the open policy practice criteria. We hope that the funder will evaluate all project outcomes after the projects have ended but also potential outcomes already during the projects.

Project plan

The project will run for twelve months during 2015-2016. The estimated starting time is the 1st of August, 2015. The project consists of four tasks.

Task 1. Literature review.

We will make a literature review of published practices and tools in the science-policy interface and societal decision support. A special emphasis will be on practical innovations for improving the production of open scientific information and policy processes that improve its use. This work will start in the beginning of the project and continue through months 1-7. The review will be used as a basis for the scientific article (see task 4). We will publish all information produced in this and other tasks in the Opasnet workspace and it will be open for comments and criticism.

Task 2. Researcher exchange.

J.T. will visit the GovLab in New York for ca. two months. (See the attached invitation letter.) During this time, he will familiarise himself to their current projects and participate in them and teach about the practices developed in THL to promote their use in the GovLab. Specifically, he will explore the relevance of the ideas and functionality embedded in the Finnish open science roadmap, open policy practice, and Opasnet to the GovLab's civic tech/governance-oriented research and advisory work in several policy areas, health care primary among them. At the same time, he will explore the relevance of the GovLab's project-based innovations, both analytical and technological, as well as those of individuals and groups in their extended networks, to the further development of Opasnet, open policy practice, and open science in Finland.

Task 3. Open science recommendations.

Based on tasks 1 and 2 we will look at the Finnish open science roadmap especially to identify practical action points or recommendations that could support the main objectives of the roadmap. These conclusions will be published (see task 4) and also communicated directly to the Open Science and Research Initiative (ATT Initiative).

Task 4. Dissemination of the results.

We want to disseminate the results of this project as widely as possible among potential users in Finland and elsewhere, and to promote their further use. Several practical efforts will be made:

  • We will set up an advisory board with members from research institutes, ministries, and CSC - IT center for science. The advisory board will meet a few times during the project and give guidance and comments about the draft outputs and dissemination activities.
  • We will maintain a web portal within Opasnet to collect and store all relevant information related to the project. This information is available to everyone with an open license. This portal will be used for data management of the project. Opasnet has the necessary functionality for backup and archive.
  • We will write a peer-reviewed scientific open access article about the lessons learned and the updated open policy practice method. This is directed to experts of different fields, especially to those of policy science and public health.
  • In addition, we will document the new practices of open science and open governance in the Innovillage website.
  • We will write a recommendation paper about task 3 to the ministries and decision makers related to open science or open governance.
  • We will produce a set of 10-15 lecture videos and related homeworks about open policy practice. This will be based on the material produced for the Decision Analysis and Risk Management course in the University of Eastern Finland[9], with relevant updates to the 2015 material. Some videos are targeted to researchers, some to decision makers, and some to stakeholder groups in general.
  • We will organise a high-level seminar to decision makers and science policy makers in Helsinki at the end of the project. The purpose is to summarise the main lessons learned and action points identified, with an active discussion about further actions.
Ethical issues

Sensitive data, patients or animals are not handled in the project. There are no ethical issues to be concerned of.

Implementation and budget

The project is estimated to start in September 2015. The budget is based on salaries to two people, J.T. and A.A. who are responsible for performing the four tasks described above. (Part of this work may be delegated to a master of science student N.N.) They will also involve the advisory board and other experts, decision makers and stakeholders in the project. The other people in the research team are not paid by this project but their contributions are based on collaboration.

Other costs include travel costs, publishing costs, and costs to organise meetings and seminars.

The cost-per-output ratio in the project is very good, because the project is based on a large amount of existing work and products. Cross-disciplinary fertilisation is an effective way to spread innovations to new areas.

Budget

The overhead is 15 % for the projects funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The social security costs are 57 % in THL. The own contribution of THL is 20 %. There is no other funding (existing or applied) for this project. The amount applied is 108221 € and the THL contribution is 27055 €.

Cost type 2015/08-10 2015/11-01 2016/02-04 2016/05-07 (all)
Salary 17000 19000 16250 16250 68500
Social security costs 9690 10830 9262 9262 39045
Overhead 4004 4474 3827 3827 16132
Publishing costs 0 0 0 1500 1500
Seminars and meetings 200 200 200 3000 3600
Travel costs 3000 2000 0 1500 6500
(all) 33894 36504 29539 35339 135277


Person-months 2015-2016(pm)
ObsNameSalary2015/08-102015/11-012016/02-042016/05-07Description
1J.T.5500221.51.5Full time during NY visit, 50 % otherwise.
2A.A.40001.522250-66 % of full-time employment


Other costs(€)
ObsCost type2015/08-102015/11-012016/02-042016/05-07Description
1Travel costs30002000015002015: 2-month trip to NY, 2016: 1-week trip to NY
2Seminars and meetings2002002003000One-day seminar to politicians, authorities, and researchers
3Publishing costs0001500Peer-reviewed open assess article

Overhead?:

Social security cost?:

THL contribution?:

+ Show code

Research team and collaboration

Jouni Tuomisto (THL), Dr.Med.Sci., adjunct professor, chief researcher, principal investigator
Tuomisto has over 20 years of research expertise in environmental health issues such as dioxins, air pollution, and toxicology. In addition, he has worked more than 10 years on risk assessment, impact assessment, and decision support. He is the main developer of open assessment, open policy practice, and Opasnet web workspace. He has served in several national expert panels.
Arja Asikainen (THL), Ph.D., researcher
Asikainen has over 10 years of expertise in environmental and environmental health research and impact modelling. Her main areas of expertise include fine particles and other air pollutants, exposure assessment, and burden of disease.
Juha Koivisto (THL), Dr.Pol.Sci., adjunct professor
Koivisto is a key developer of the Innovillage platform and community. He is an expert in science and technology studies, public sector innovation, and evaluation research.
Beth Simone Noveck (GovLab), professor of law
Noveck directs The Governance Lab and its MacArthur Research Network on Opening Governance. She is Global Network Visiting Professor at New York University, and she was formerly a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Public Service and a visiting professor at the MIT Media Lab. She served in the White House as the first United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer and director of the White House Open Government Initiative (2009-2011). UK Prime Minister David Cameron appointed her senior advisor for Open Government, and she served on the Obama-Biden transition team.
Alan Kantrow (GovLab), Ph.D., Chief Learning and Communications Officer
Prior to joining The GovLab, Alan was Managing Partner of Alan Kantrow LLC, where he provided advice on strategy, organization, innovation, communication, and knowledge management to corporations, colleges and universities, and government entities focused on educational and economic development in many different parts of the world. He is also a Senior Advisor to HCD Global in Shanghai.

THL is a government research and expert institute in Finland. Its environmental health part in Kuopio is a leading research unit in its field. Environmental health assessments and policy support are its key areas of activity.

The GovLab is a part of New York University. It strives to improve people’s lives by changing how we govern. The GovLab designs and tests technology, policy and strategies for fostering more open and collaborative approaches to strengthen the ability of people and institutions to work together to solve problems, make decisions, resolve conflict and govern themselves more effectively and legitimately.

References

  1. ↑ Beth Simone Noveck: Wiki Government. How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful. Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8157-0275-7.
  2. ↑ Tuomisto JT, Pohjola M: Open risk assessment. A new way of providing scientific information for decision-making. Publications of the National Public Health Institute B18/2007. 2007
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tuomisto, Jouni T.; Pohjola, Mikko; Pohjola, Pasi. Avoin päätöksentekokäytäntö voisi parantaa tiedon hyödyntämistä. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 1/2014, 66-75. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2014031821621 http://en.opasnet.org/w/OPP
  4. ↑ Pohjola, Mikko V.; Pohjola, Pasi; Paavola, Sami; Bauters, Merja; Tuomisto, Jouni T. (2013) Pragmatic Knowledge Services. Journal of Universal Computer Science. 17: 3: 472-497.
  5. ↑ Innokylä website: https://www.innokyla.fi/about-innovillage
  6. ↑ OECD: Observatory of Public Sector Innovation. https://www.oecd.org/governance/observatory-public-sector-innovation/innovations/page/openinnovationinpublicpolicy.htm
  7. ↑ Science and research leads to surprising discoveries and creative insights - Open science and research roadmap 2014–2017: Reports of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland 2014:21. [1]
  8. ↑ Open Government partnership http://www.opengovpartnership.org/country/finland
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 University of Eastern Finland: Decision analysis and risk management. A course for master of science students, 6 credit points. Held in 2011 and 2013 and will be held in 2015.[2]

Invitation letter

We are aware of your work in developing open policy practice and the related Opasnet web workspace. These are interesting demonstrations of open science and democracy. We are also aware of your interest in evaluating these against the Open Science and Research Roadmap published by the The Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland, as well as your interest in developing these ideas and practices further.

As you and I have discussed, our mutual expectation is that, during your time with us, you will explore the relevance of the ideas and functionality embedded in the Roadmap, open policy practice, and Opasnet to our civic tech/governance-oriented research and advisory work in several policy areas, health care primary among them. At the same time, you will explore the relevance of our project-based innovations, both analytical and technological, as well as those of individuals and groups in our extended networks, to the further development of Opasnet, open policy practice, and open science in Finland.

We will be happy to provide you with office space, technical support, wireless access, and an eager group of interested and interesting colleagues. We will not, however, be responsible for your compensation, benefits, living arrangements, or travel expenses.


Hakemus

Hakijan nimi / Sökandens namn (yhteisön rekisteröity nimi / registrerat namn på sammanslutning) *

Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos

Nimilyhenne / Namnförkortning

THL

Hakijan kotikunta /Sökandens hemkommun

Helsinki

Yhteisön yhteyshenkilö /Sammanslutningens kontaktperson

Jouni Tuomisto

Hakijayhteisön Y-tunnus/ Sammanslutningens FO-nummer

2229500-6

PRH
n yhdistys-, säätiö- tai kaupparekisterin rek.nro ja ensirek.pvm / Förenings-, stiftelse- eller handelsregistrets reg.nr och första reg.dag (PRS)

1.1.2009

Lähiosoite / Näradress

Mannerheimintie 166 / PL 30

Postinumero / Postnummer, Postitoimipaikka / Postanstalt

00271 Helsinki

Sähköpostiosoite / E-postadress

jouni.tuomisto.at.thl.fi

Puhelin / Telefon työ / tjänst Telefax

029-5246305

Haettava määrä euroina / Belopp som söks i euro

Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriöltä haetaan 108221 €. THL:n omarahoitusosuus on 27055 € (20 %).

Hakijan pankkitili / Sökandens bankkonto ** IBAN BIC

Pohjola Pankki Oyj IBAN:FI84 5000 0120 2506 82 BIC:OKOYFIHH

Hakemuksen aihealue (ilmoituksesta tai hakuohjeista www.minedu.fi) Ansökningens ämnesområde (från annons eller ansökningsanvisningar www.minedu.fi)

Erityisavustus tiede- ja korkeakoulupolitiikan kehittämishankkeisiin

Valtionavustuslaji (kts. seuraava sivu) / Slag av statsunderstöd (se nästa sida)
yleisavustus / allmänt understöd ___
erityisavustus / specialunderstöd _X_
Hankkeen nimi / Projektets namn

GovLab- ja Opasnet-käytännöt suomalaisen tieteen ja päätöksenteon tukena (GOVNET)

Hankkeen suunniteltu alkamis- ja päättymisaika / Datum för projektets planerade början och slut

1.8.2015 - 31.7.2016

Avustuksen käyttötarkoitus (voidaan jatkaa liitteessä) / Understödets ändamål (kan fortsättas i bilaga)

GOVNET tuottaa parannettuja, testattuja käytäntöjä ja niitä tukevaa materiaalia avoimen tieteen tekemiseen ja avoimeen, näyttöön perustuvaan hallintoon. GOVNET on tutkimushanke, joka yhdistää tietämystä avoimesta tieteestä ja avoimesta hallinnosta kolmesta eri kehityslinjasta: a) Opasnet-verkkotyötilasta ja avoimesta päätöksentekokäytännöstä, jotka edistävät ympäristöterveysarviointien tekemistä ja siten yhteiskunnan päätöksentekoa; b) New Yorkin yliopiston GovLab-yksikön kehitystyöstä avoimen hallinnon kehittämiseksi; ja c) Innokylä-verkkosivustosta, joka tukee hyvien käytäntöjen kehittämistä ja juurruttamista sosiaali- ja terveyssektorilla. Projektissa tehdään tutkijavierailu New Yorkiin kuvattujen asioiden oppimiseksi ja opettamiseksi molemminpuolisesti sekä tähän liittyen kirjallisuuskatsaus aiheesta. Projekti tuottaa mm. korkean tason seminaarin, kommenttijulkaisun, joka sisältää kehitysehdotuksia tuoreeseen Avoimen tieteen ja tutkimuksen tiekarttaan, sekä toimintamalleja avoimen tieteen toteuttamiseen. Nämä toimintamallit hyödyntävät hankkeessa opittua ja ne kuvataan ja levitetään Innokylän kautta.

Liitteet
  1. Avustettavaa hanketta koskeva suunnitelma. Toimintasuunnitelmasta tulee käydä ilmi hankkeen toiminta-ajatus, keskeiset kehittämiskohteet hankekaudella (rahoituskausi 2015-2016) sekä tavoitteet vaikuttavuudelle vuosina 2015-2017.
  2. Erittely hankkeen kokonaiskustannuksista ja hankkeesta saatavista tuloista sekä arvio niiden ajoittumisesta neljännesvuoden tarkkuudella. Muut samaa tarkoitusta varten saadut ja haetut avustukset.
  3. Selvitys nimenkirjoitusoikeudesta (esim. yhdistys-, säätiö tai kaupparekisteriote)
  4. hakijayhteisön toimintakertomus tai muu vastaava selvitys edelliseltä tilikaudelta,
  5. yhteisön tuloslaskelma, tase ja tilintarkastuskertomus edelliseltä tilikaudelta.
  6. Mikäli hakija ei ole saanut opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriöltä avustusta aikaisemmin tulee hakemukseen liittää tiedot hakijayhteisöstä: yhdistysrekisteriote, yhteisön säännöt, yhteisön hallituksen/johtokunnan kokoonpano, jäsenten lukumäärä (henkilöjäsenet ja yhteisöjäsenet).

See also

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