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The Open Universe Initiative (OUI) was proposed in the framework of the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) with the support of the Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). The objective of this activity is to stimulate a great increase in the accessibility and ease of utilization of space science data in all contexts, from the community of scientists working in space science and close fields, to the education sector, to ideally anyone.
Making data usable by non experts will increase bidirectional communication between science and society, and will promote the democratization of science.
Timeline of OUI’s implementation:
In 2016, the Italian Government, working together with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), proposed OUI at the 59th session of the COPUOS, to be established under the auspices of the COPUOS and under UNOOSA’s leadership in tight cooperation with the Italian Government itself (1).
After Italy launched the initiative, UNOOSA has undertaken several steps to build the core of OUI’s foundations, including the UN/Italy workshop on the OUI (2).
So far, Argentina, Armenia and Brazil sent letters of expression of interest to join the initiative, and work is on-going to draft the official OUI’s Terms of Reference.
In the meantime, ASI built the first version of the OUI web portal (3), which provides an evolving prototype to be used for discussions on the definition of on-line integrated space science data archive services.
OUI in the context of Sustainable Development Goals:
The OUI fits into the UNISPACE III nucleus strategy (4) and furthers the work carried out by UN Member States and UNOOSA.
Moreover, OUI’s vision addresses at least two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely SDG 4 and SDG 17. SGD 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all: it has been yet recognized that data can directly impact in education and capacity building in developing nations, provided that high level, truly accessible and usable data is available (transparent data). SGD 17 instead aims to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development: in this context, transparent data can be also a tool for horizontal collaboration between countries.
On-going Scientific Activities:
As part of this initiative, and as a pathfinder of this innovative approach, two programs called “Open Universe for Blazars” (5) and “Open Universe for GRBs” (6) have been recently launched, with the goal to generate high-transparency data products for a large number of blazars and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), two classes of powerful and very actively studied extra-galactic sources.
Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Dr. P. Giommi for comments on the early draft
Disclaimer. The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.
PDF version of this document with added hyperlinks to other resources is available for download from here.