What Do We Really Need to Know? Balancing User Data Privacy vs Quality of Service vs Impact Reporting
Jens Klump1, Lesley Wyborn2, Rhys Francis3 1CSIRO, Perth, WA, Australia2ANU, Canberra, ACT, Australia3Research Data Culture Conversation, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Abstract
Data repositories play a crucial role in supporting open data and open science by curating datasets and providing access services. Monitoring the usage of data repositories has traditionally involved simply logging access to datasets and collecting user feedback. New advancements in IT tools now enable finer-grained usage monitoring, offering a clearer picture of data centre usage and facilitating improved funding prospects. At the same time, funders increasingly ask for more detailed usage statistics to gauge the impact of the services provided by a data centre.
Enhanced usage statistics can include finer geographical resolution and capture the purpose of data access, aiding funders and stakeholders in assessing the impact and outcomes of research infrastructures. Identifying indicators such as publications, citations, user satisfaction, scientific user demographics, open data use, and data sharing can provide valuable insights.
However, the implementation of more granular user identification and usage tracking may introduce barriers to data access. Concerns regarding costs, privacy legislation compliance, and the feasibility of providing detailed user information have also been raised.
This BoF explores the feasibility and benefits of implementing more detailed statistics and tracking mechanisms in data repositories without compromising user data privacy and aims to shed light on the opportunities and challenges associated with enhancing usage monitoring, and the need to balance these with implications for open science and data-driven research.
To address these challenges, a panel discussion involving representatives from different stakeholder groups will be conducted. The panellists will present their perspectives, followed by moderated discussions and audience questions.
Biography
Jens Klump is a geochemist by training and Group Leader Exploration Through Cover in CSIRO Mineral Resources, based in Perth, Western Australia. Jens work focuses on data in minerals exploration, looking at data capture and data analysis. This includes automated data and metadata capture, sensor data integration, both in the field and in the laboratory, data processing workflows, and data provenance, but also data analysis by statistical methods, machine learning and numerical modelling.
Jens is the president of the IGSN Organization (IGSN e.V.). The organisation coordinates the development and introduction of persistent identifiers for physical specimens of research materials.
Jens is the president of the Earth and Space Science Informatics Division of the European Geosciences Union.