Scientific information is both a researcher's greatest
output and technological innovation's most important
resource. Open Access (OA) is the provision of free access
to peer-reviewed, scholarly and research information to
all. It requires that the rights holder grants worldwide
irrevocable right of access to copy, use, distribute, transmit,
and make derivative works in any format for any lawful
activities with proper attribution to the original author.
Open Access uses Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) to increase and enhance the
dissemination of scholarship. OA is about Freedom,
Flexibility and Fairness.
"The European Commission (EC) has awarded a contract to create an open data portal website, where data produced by European Commission services will be freely available. Belgian company TenForce will lead the project to deliver the portal, supported by Leipzig University's Institute for Applied Computer Science (InfAI), and UK-based non-profit the Open Knowledge Foundation."
"AN ACT relative to the use of open source software and open data formats by state agencies and relative to the adoption of a statewide information policy regarding open government data standards."
"The Open Data Handbook is a valuable resource for everyone interested in open data. It covers many types of data, but its particular focus is open government data.
The Open Data Handbook is targeted towards a broad audience. It contains useful information for civil servants, journalists, activists, developers, researchers - basically, for anyone with an interest in open data!"