What is the role of open data in times of crisis? How can academic libraries embrace openness as a crisis response and resilience mechanism?
From the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine and climate disasters, the CAELUM report “Open Data in Crisis” shows how open data can both empower resilience and expose vulnerabilities. It examines the challenges and opportunities of open data in crisis contexts, providing actionable guidance for research data managers, university libraries, and policymakers.
The cross-case analysis identifies key challenges, such as:
- Security breaches and infrastructure attacks.
- Misuse of open datasets for disinformation.
- Regulatory ambiguity across jurisdictions.
- Loss of trust in institutions hosting or curating data.
As well as key opportunities, such as:
- Rapid scientific collaboration
- Citizen science initiatives and open disaster data platforms for effective crisis response.
- Faster policy and humanitarian decision-making enabled by data transparency.
- Strengthened interoperability frameworks such as the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
- Open-source data intelligence and analysis tools supporting decentralised resilience.
The report also provides practical guidance and recommendations for universities, data stewards, and policymakers to build safer, and more resilient systems.
The report is a deliverable of Work Package 2, Activity 3 (WP2A3) “The Role of Open Data in Time of Crisis”.