Review of codes of conduct, voluntary guidelines and principles relevant for farm data sharing

Codes of conduct, voluntary guidelines, sets of principles on how to transparently govern farm data are a recent thing. While laws and regulations that govern personal data are becoming more and more common, legislation still does not cover data flows in many industries where different actors in the value chain need to share data and at the same time protect all involved from the risks of data sharing. Data in these value chains is currently governed through private data contracts or licensing agreements, which are normally very complex and on which data producers have very little negotiating power. Codes of conduct have started to emerge to fill the legislative void and to set common standards for data sharing contracts: codes provide principles that the signatories/subscribers/members agree to apply in their contracts

Human Resources for Health Migration: global policy responses, initiatives, and emerging issues

This report identifies and maps contemporary global policy responses to, and initiatives on, international HRH migration, with particular reference to low‐income source countries. It reports on a systematic review and analysis of the responses and initiatives of twelve multilateral organisations and global fora: European Union; Global Forum on Migration and Development; Global Health Workforce Alliance; International Labour Organization; International Organization for Migration; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development; Pan‐American Health Organization; UN Global Migration Group; UN High‐Level Dialogue on Migration and Development; World Bank; World Health Organization; and the World Trade Organization. The report documents how these global policy actors are presently engaging with the HRH migration field through their activities, initiatives and policy responses. It situates this engagement within global policy initiatives spanning health, migration and development. In addition to reviewing and mapping current initiatives and policy responses and their outcomes, the report identifies emerging issues, upcoming promising initiatives and global policy scenarios

Bringing Foundations and Governments Closer - Evidence from Mexico

The recommendations formulated in the study provide the basis for close and effective cooperation between Mexican foundations and government agencies, including the Mexican Agency for International Development Co-operation, Agencia Mexicana de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AMEXCID). The study expands the spectrum of key development partners for a co-operation agency of the South. Similarly, it has been recognised that not only governments, but all actors, including foundations, must co-operate and assume their respective responsibilities in order to achieve the SDGs

Samples and data accessibility in research biobanks. An explorative survey

Biobanks, which contain human biological samples and/or data, provide a crucial contribution to the progress of biomedical research. However, the effective and efficient use of biobank resources depends on their accessibility. In fact, making bio-resources promptly accessible to everybody may increase the benefits for society. Furthermore, optimizing their use and ensuring their quality will promote scientific creativity and, in general, contribute to the progress of bio-medical research. Although this has become a rather common belief, several laboratories are still secretive and continue to withhold samples and data. In this study, we conducted a questionnairebased survey in order to investigate sample and data accessibility in research biobanks operating all over the world. The survey involved a total of 46 biobanks. Most of them gave permission to access their samples (95.7%) and data (85.4%), but free and unconditioned accessibility seemed not to be common practice. The analysis of the guidelines regarding the accessibility to resources of the biobanks that responded to the survey highlights three issues: (i) the request for applicants to explain what they would like to do with the resources requested; (ii) the role of funding, public or private, in the establishment of fruitful collaborations between biobanks and research labs; (iii) the request of co-authorship in order to give access to their data. These results suggest that economic and academic aspects are involved in determining the extent of sample and data sharing stored in biobanks. As a second step of this study, we investigated the reasons behind the high diversity of requirements to access biobank resources. The analysis of informative answers suggested that the different modalities of resource accessibility seem to be largely influenced by both social context and legislation of the countries where the biobanks operate

Enhancing Ontario’s Rural Infrastructure Preparedness: Inter-Community Service Sharing in a Changing Climate — Environmental Scan

Given the research that has been done in this environmental scan and the gaps found in this research, it is our aim to find out: What types of service sharing are going on in Ontario municipalities, particularly in rural/remote areas? How can inter-community service sharing (ICSS) benefit the asset management planning process in these rural/remote areas to enhance capacities for climate change resilience? Climate change (CC) will exacerbate deterioration to existing infrastructure and increase replacement costs. Improved preparedness reduces risks and increases efficiency, readiness and coping capacity. To increase the preparedness of Ontario rural communities, this project develops CC-Prepared Inter-Community Service Sharing (ICSS) as an innovative strategy that expands cost-effective solutions within Ontario’s standardized Asset Management Planning (AMP) process. Overseen by a Project Advisory Board (PAB), it identifies a suite of best practice ICSS processes and principles and a range of factors and indicators that influence the uptake of ICSS as a viable and practical opportunity targeted to enhance rural infrastructure preparedness for CC. It utilizes a multimethod, interdisciplinary approach involving an environmental scan, interviews, a survey and case studies and develops an ICSS Toolkit consisting of reports, workbook, policy brief and media kit. Knowledge translation and transfer (KTT) includes blogs, teleconferences, articles, presentations and a workshop. For small rural Ontario communities, this study enhances management of CC impacts on infrastructure through the development of a CC-Prepared ICSS strategy, increasing anticipatory, collective actions that reduce dam age and increase efficiencies. It informs sound municipal/provincial level programs and policies about innovative ICSS that benefit rural communities through the identification of Ontario-wide trends, case study best practises and action-oriented recommendations

Bridging the Data Divide: Understanding State Agency and University Research Partnerships within SLDS

This report examines this question through an analysis of state agency-university researcher partnerships that exist in State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS). Building state agency-university researcher partnerships is an important value of SLDS. To examine state agency-university researcher partnerships within SLDS, our analysis is guided by the following set of questions based on 71 interviews conducted with individuals most directly involved with SLDS efforts in Virginia, Maryland, Texas and Washington. The findings from this analysis suggest that each state’s SLDS organization and governance structure includes university partners in differing ways. In general, stronger partnership efforts are driven by legislative action or executive-level leadership. Regardless of structure, the operation of these partnerships is shaped by the agency’s previous experience and cultural norms surrounding the value and inclusion of university researchers

Bridging the Data Divide: Understanding State Agency and University Research Partnerships within SLDS

This report examines this question through an analysis of state agency-university researcher partnerships that exist in State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS). Building state agency-university researcher partnerships is an important value of SLDS. To examine state agency-university researcher partnerships within SLDS, our analysis is guided by the following set of questions based on 71 interviews conducted with individuals most directly involved with SLDS efforts in Virginia, Maryland, Texas and Washington. The findings from this analysis suggest that each state’s SLDS organization and governance structure includes university partners in differing ways. In general, stronger partnership efforts are driven by legislative action or executive-level leadership. Regardless of structure, the operation of these partnerships is shaped by the agency’s previous experience and cultural norms surrounding the value and inclusion of university researchers