White House Seeks Open Access to COVID-19-Related Data for mining, AI applications

The White House is asking publishers to make all COVID-19-related research and data available to the public and researchers in machine-readable form so the data can be mined and AI applied. They are asking for full rights for research re-use and analysis.  

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) joined by science and tech advisers from a dozen countries want that info available ASAP in both human-readable and machine-readable formats so it can be vetted and shared online "openly and rapidly." 

"A prompt response from the scientific and publishing community will accelerate global efforts to contain [virus] and thus save lives and reduce societal disruption," they wrote in an open letter to the publishing community. "Efforts made by publishers to date to make publications and data on COVID-19 publicly accessible are greatly appreciated." 

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.