[Board] Opportunity: American Geophysical Union: Implementation of FAIR principles -> MOU by AGU and OSGeo ?

["Peter Löwe"]

Dear Board, (cc: OpengeoScience Committee)

I can inform you about an interesting opportunity for OSGeo.

AGU (www.agu.org, representing 60.000 geoscientists globally) is currently preparing a project to implement the FAIR-principles (Findable|Accessible|Interoperable|Reusable) for their science divisions and early career scientists. In this context, I'm attending the projects kickoff-meeting next week.

The current focus of AGU is to apply FAIR to all kinds of research data which is used and published. 
According to the project stakeholders at AGU, they want to create a critical mass of all stakeholders providing input how to advance the implememntaion of FAIR. 

It can be argued that software, including the OSgeo projects, is also a kind of data. We know from the annual general meetings of AGU and its twin organisation EGU (European Geoscience Union), that software tools from OSGeo projects are workhorses for science conducted by AGU/EGU members.

OSGeo has been reaching out to EGU/AGU already: The Open Geoscience Committee has been organising annual townhall meetings at the EGU gernal assemblies for over four years, OSGeo BOF-meetings have been organised during earlier AGU general assemblies. 

While I have not been invited to the upcoming meeting because of being a OSgeo charter member, I believe this is a good opportunity to make our voice heard and put us officially on the map (IMHO FAIR is fully compatible with the OSGeo paradigm) and to argue for a MOU with AGU.

Feedback from the board would be appreciated, whether this approach is in the interest of OSGeo. If so, more advice on how to push for / prepare a MOU would be great (-> latest MOU with  DOI )


Best,
Peter

<peter.loewe at gmx.de>