BE OPEN aims to promote Open Science in transport research and assist in regulating and standardizing it. The overarching vision of BE OPEN is to create a common understanding on the practical impact of Open Science and to identify and put in place the mechanisms to make it a reality in transport research. Achieving Open Access to publications, making their underlying data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and open where possible, and using open and collaborative processes and infrastructure via the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) will be key factors in making transportation researchers share-use-reproduce science and in bringing such a critical sector closer to the society for enabling open innovation and citizen science.
Openness, transparency, fairness, reproducibility of science are key aspects around which BE OPEN will seek to establish the ground rules for the transport research communities, ultimately establishing a community of transport research organizations willing to work on the basis of a commonly agreed “Open Science Code of Conduct”. To this end, BE OPEN has brought on board key transport and open science related communities in a two-fold action plan: to engage them in a participatory approach fostering a dialogue on Open Science (what exists, what should be done, how it should be done) among relevant stakeholders in Europe and around the world, and develop a detailed roadmap for the implementation of sustainable open science modules which include key practices, infrastructures, policies and business models, all taking into account the specifications of the transport research domain, and the use and integration of existing-infrastructures and the emerging EOSC initiative.
BE OPEN specific objectives are set as follows:
1) Develop a framework to establish a common understanding of operationalizing Open Science in Transport by putting forward the main principles and practices of open science, identifying the needs, benefits and means so as to ensure an appropriate and sustainable implementation and uptake.
2) Map existing Open Science resources and see how transport research fits in by creating a solid knowledge base on the implementation of Open Science approaches in transport research
and exploiting opportunities, synergies and integration with existing e-Infrastructures and emerging EOSC.
3) Facilitate an evidence-based dialogue to promote and establish Open Science in transport by developing an Open Science in Transport Observatory and Forum (TOPOS) of national, European and international stakeholders (from the public and private sector) so as to exchange ideas and share experiences and best practices for operationalizing Open Science principles in transport research.
4) Provide the policy framework and guidance for open science implementation in transport to establish and promote the ground rules that will allow all stakeholders, existing tools and platforms, as well as resources and content to become an integral part of the Open Science in the transport research domain.
5) Develop a uniform and common strategy for approaching all key communities in transport research and engaging them in a co-design process to help ensure that Open Science and BE OPEN results meet their needs and they are usable. Engagement with international partners for sharing experiences and exploiting successful approaches will be also considered.
