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OSTP Takes Steps Toward Equitable AI
The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced on 4 October their blueprints for an "AI Bill of Rights" that seeks to provide guidance for more equitable use of AI. This framework is still in early stages, but it is a major step toward ensuring that AI systems do not infringe upon basic human rights. The blueprint focuses on five pillars:
- Safe and Effective Systems – You should be protected from unsafe or ineffective systems.
- Algorithmic Discrimination Protections – You should not face discrimination by algorithms and systems should be used and designed in an equitable way.
- Data Privacy – You should be protected from abusive data practices via built-in protections and you should have agency over how data about you is used.
- Notice and Explanation – You should know that an automated system is being used and understand how and why it contributes to outcomes that impact you.
- Human Alternatives, Consideration, and Fallback – You should be able to opt out, where appropriate, and have access to a person who can quickly consider and remedy problems you encounter.
Similar frameworks have been drafted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the OECD AI Policy Observatory, the European Union, UNESCO, and others around the world. These guidelines resonate with the World Data System's mission to enhance the capabilities, impact, and sustainability of scientific data by creating trusted communities, strengthening the scientific enterprise throughout the entire lifecycle of data and all related components, and advocating for accessible data and transparent and reproducible science.
OSTP's Blueprint for an "AI Bill of Rights"
Call for Nominations - RDA's Technical Advisory Board 2022
RDA is seeking candidates for the annual TAB election, to be held in December 2022. TAB Terms are for three (3) years. We encourage participation from RDA members at all stages of their careers. Please note that current members of RDA’s Council, Secretariat, Regional Advisory Board and Organizational Advisory Board are not eligible for TAB membership.
Nominations will be accepted until 23:59 UTC on 14 November 2022
Webinar Series - Making Data Discoverable through Publishing Structured Metadata on the Web
The FAIR principles refer frequently to metadata as a key enabler in discoverability but also have a major role in accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. Publishing structured metadata on the web can provide a simple and efficient means to increase the FAIRness of research resources: it exposes metadata contained in web pages through a formal mechanism, allowing systematic collection and processing by web-based crawlers. However, the adoption of structured metadata requires a consistent implementation across data repositories in order to enable better interoperability of metadata, and therefore improve discoverability, accessibility, and reusability of data.
This webinar will present two outputs from the RDA Research Metadata Schemas Working Group: guidelines with nine recommendations and a collection of crosswalks to support the process of publishing structured metadata on the web. Data repositories that try to adopt structured metadata within and across domains would benefit greatly from the guidelines that would help ensure consistent implementation leading to enhanced discoverability and accessibility of data.
International FAIR Convergence Symposium - Leiden, 24-26 October 2022
An initial program overview is now published and registration open.
The 2nd FAIR Convergence Symposium ;is organized by CODATA and GO FAIR on 24 – 26 October 2022 in Leiden, The Netherlands, as part of the Week Focused on FAIR.
This years’ edition will concentrate on smaller, high-priority, strategic and working meetings to encourage convergence on and implementation of FAIR. The meetings are being organized as hybrid events, allowing for both in-person and online participation.
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EU-PolarNet 2 is looking back to an eventful summer. We finally met in person at our third General Assembly in Sofia at which some of the project partners saw each other the first time in person. Since the launch of the project and the beginning of the pandemic, we have the feeling that we are making real progress. We started with our stakeholder engagement work targeting the marine industry with a booth at the SMM in Hamburg and our international cooperation tasks benefitted from the first, very successful in person workshop in Washington D.C in July. The catalyst platform, as one of the important cooperation tools, is up and running and the third and last EU-PolarNet 2 Service Call has just been opened. The newsletter has also slightly changed and is featuring a new section now, called “from science to policy”.
The third EU-PolarNet 2 Service Call is open!
Through the Service Calls, EU-PolarNet 2 is seeking support from the European research community to develop ideas for concrete research activities for the research needs defined in the Integrated European Polar Research Programme (EPRP). For example, we are supporting workshops, desk studies or travels. Deadline for offers is 20 December 2022. More information: https://eu-polarnet.eu/call/
Side event to the All Atlantic 2022 Ministerial Meeting
EU-PolarNet 2 and the EPB organised an in-person workshop on "Research Cooperation from Pole to Pole" on July 12th at the Residence of the Portuguese Ambassador in Washington D.C. as a side event to the All-Atlantic Ministerial 2022. The workshop provided a platform to discuss better cooperation in the future for Polar Research (Arctic and Antarctic/Southern Ocean) and Infrastructures through the All Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance.
Entering the third year - EU-PolarNet 2's third General Assembly
We are already halfway through! After two years of project running time, it was time for the third EU-PolarNet 2 General Assembly and mid-term retreat from 13th to 15th of September 2022 in Sofia, Bulgaria. More than 50 participants from the project, EU Polar Cluster members, representatives from the Advisory Board and Policy Advisory Board of the project attended the meeting in person and online on the 13th of September. It was a great meeting, very well organised and hosted by our EU-PolarNet 2 partners from the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute.
The SMM International Maritime Trade Fair
EU Polar Cluster / Arctic PASSION / EU-PolarNet-2 teamed up to be present at the SMM Fair in Hamburg, the largest maritime industry trade fair considered to be the most important global maritime industry event of the year. Our goal was to make connections with the actors of the maritime industry and invite them to fill out a questionnaire on research prioritisation. The SMM was without a doubt “the place to be” to help us identify research priorities and improve collaborations between the scientific community and the maritime industry!
Workshop on Polar Observations
The EU-PolarNet 2 Workshop with Coordinators of European Polar Observing Systems, arranged on 7th June 2022, was aimed to collate, in a co-design process, actionable policy-level recommendations to accelerate the development of Integrated Polar Observing System (IPOS). The primary objective of the workshop was to collate, in a co-design process, actionable policy-level recommendations to accelerate the development of IPOS. The resulting recommendations will feed into a white paper with recommendations to accelerate the development of a sustained and fully integrated Polar observing system, to be published in 2024.
EU-PolarNet 2 at Arctic Circle
EU-PolarNet 2 will have two sessions at Arctic Circle, both on October 15, which will be held back-to-back starting from 10:00 AM.
The first session, called “Funding International Arctic Science” will address the need for stronger international coordination of Arctic science funding and the state of Arctic research.
The consecutive session “EU-PolarNet 2 – structure of European Polar research funding: dialogue and cooperation” will present the overall goals and objectives of the EU-PolarNet 2 project and will focus on the structure of European Polar Research Funding and cooperation with partners beyond Europe.
In parallel, EU-PolarNet 2 will talk about EU-supported research in the Arctic in the session “EU-Arctic cooperation: challenges, collaboration and results”, organised by the European Commission, on October 15, 10:00 AM.
EU Polar Cluster News
After more than two years of pandemic, the EU Polar Cluster held its first in-person meeting in Brussels on 21 and 22 June 2022. About 50 representatives from 21 Polar Cluster projects and initiatives joined the meeting in the EC premises. The meeting was characterised by lively round table discussions on the restructuring of the previous task group structure and the future direction of the Cluster. The EU Polar Cluster will have a booth at the Arctic Circle Assembly 2022 and AGU 2022. Visit us at the boot for news and what is currently going on in the Cluster.
Sign up here to directly receive the EU Polar Cluster newsletters.
Partner highlights on polar research
- Longer and warmer autumns can greatly decrease butterfly's chances of surviving winter
Warmer than usual autumn weather can have detrimental effects on butterflies in their pupal stage, a new study from the University of Oulu and Stockholm University finds. - The Estonian Academy of Sciences confirmed two research professorships for Arctic studies
The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised an open competition for research professorships for Arctic studies for the 2022-2023 period. The aim of establishing research professorships is to support the participation of Estonian researches in Arctic studies, increase the expertise of Estonian researchers on the Arctic and contribute to their ability to take part in important international research. - Polish-Norwegian cooperation on Svalbard: CRIOS project is launching
In early fall of 2022, as a result of Polish - Norwegian cooperation, the Cryosphere Integrated Observatory Network on Svalbard (CRIOS) project is launching. CRIOS aims to modernize and expand an automated monitoring network focused on the cryosphere of Spitsbergen as a calibration/validation system for indirect research. The network will be based on existing Polish Polar Stations and Norwegian facilities in western Spitsbergen. - Austria establishes a permanent research station in East Greenland
Austria has been active in polar research for a long time but has not operated a research station until now. Through private sponsorship by an Austrian industrialist family, it has now been possible to raise the necessary funds to expand the Sermilik Research Station in East Greenland and bring it up to modern standards. The research station, which was previously run by the University of Copenhagen, will in future be run as a cooperation between the Universities of Copenhagen (Denmark) and Graz (Austria). - Expedition to validate satellite measurements of the Antarctic ice sheet
In December 2021, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat organised the Antarctic expedition DML 2021/2022 to the Swedish research station Wasa. A research team led by Ian Brown, Associate professor in Earth Observation at Stockholm University, arrived in Antarctica on 4 December and spent 44 days on Earth's southernmost continent. The goal was to implement a snow measurement program to validate satellite measurements of the ice sheet.
The Catalyst Platform - information exchange within the European Polar community
One of the goals of EU-PolarNet 2 is to develop cooperation tools to strengthen European Polar coordination and to facilitate interaction among national Polar research programmes in Europe. One of the main cooperation tools is the Catalyst Platform that shall improve the information flow within the European Polar community. The Platform will serve as the core of the European Polar Coordination Office (EPCO) which will be one the main outcomes of EU-PolarNet 2 and will secure that its legacy is well preserved. The Platform is intended to provide all important information on European polar research and serve as an important coordination asset for the European Polar community.
Link to the platform: https://polarcatalyst.eu/
Get involved! EU-PolarNet 2 is looking for ideas for policy-related events
EU-PolarNet 2 organises regular thematic webinars on policy-relevant topics related to European polar science. We are also organising booths, outreach material and policy briefings to showcase the European polar research to our stakeholders, such as policy makers or the wider polar research community.
We look forward to hearing from the polar community what topics for webinars, workshops would be of interest to you. We are looking for suggestions on what is important for scientists to bring closer to policy.
We are looking forward to your contributions through this form.
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When: Oct. 14, 2022
10:00am – 11:00am ET
6th Floor Flom Auditorium, Woodrow Wilson Center
In advance of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), and as the UK's COP Presidency enters its final weeks, the Wilson Center is proud to host COP26 President Alok Sharma.
On the heels of his trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya and ahead of COP27, Sharma, who is also a British Cabinet minister, will reflect on how climate change—and responses to it—are reshaping our world, and how the global community can collaborate more effectively to forge the path ahead for climate action.
Sharma's speech will be followed by a conversation on the achievements and challenges of COP26, his experience leading the negotiations, and what the next steps are in the global effort to act on climate change.
Please join the Wilson Center, in partnership with the British Embassy, Washington D.C. for a highly anticipated conversation with COP26 President Alok Sharma.
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Dear researcher, dear colleague,
The Austrian Space Forum is releasing the Announcement of Opportunity for its 14th Mars Analog Campaign, scheduled for Q1/2024 in a desert environment, likely in the Northern Sahara.
We are inviting the scientific community to submit experiment proposals in the fields of geosciences, engineering & robotics, planetary surface operations, and life sciences including astrobiology, human factors in a 2-stage call.
Details can be found in the PDF-document attached, but if you have questions, do not hesitate to contact us at
We are very much looking forward to your submission(s) and keep the fingers crossed for a scientifically rewarding, safe and inspiring, professional analog mission!
Sincerely,
Gernot Groemer, Director
Austrian Space Forum
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Subject: The new Great Challenge of the Arctic: perspectives and changes for a peaceful cooperation
When: Tuesday, 18 October 2022 - 3:00 PM-5:30 PM and Wednesday, 19 October 2022 - 9:30 AM-1:00 PM
SIOI - United Nations Association for Italy and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Italy, in collaboration with the High North Center for Business and Governance of Nord University (Bodø) and with the Arctic University of Norway, are pleased to present the 4th edition of the International Symposium Arctic Connections: “The new Great Challenge of the Arctic: perspectives and changes for a peaceful cooperation”.
The Symposium will take place on 18 and 19 October 2022, in English and in a hybrid format, and it will provide an opportunity to discuss the most pressing aspects of the following topics: the Arctic dilemma and its regional dynamics of a security in transition; the new emerging leadership in the Arctic; the European energy crisis and the need for peaceful cooperation between Arctic and non-Arctic states for the security of supply.
The aim of the event is to discuss the new challenges of the region related to international security, geopolitics of energy and transport, the energy crisis that affects all European countries and the development of a new leadership capable of leading to closer collaboration between Arctic and non-Arctic States such as Italy.
In this context, the Arctic could play a double role both from the point of view of security of supply and energy transition, in which the European Union could become a new key actor.