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Short abstract:

The UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science foregrounds access to open resources as a driver for global equity. Current digital inequities continue to create access disparities across stakeholder groups. I propose the concept of “meaningful openness” to capture current disparities in equitable access.

Long abstract:

The 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science underscored the global commitment to OS. The declaration defines Open Science through the values of inclusivity and equity and the principle of sustainability. This commitment to equity hinges on a key implicit assumption, namely that diverse stakeholders around the world will be able to add value to their lives by accessing and applying the resources made available through Open Science infrastructures and practices. Nonetheless, current digital inequities mean that this value may differ significantly not only in terms of who is interacting with the resources, but also how and for what purpose.

In order to better understand the “how” of these interactions it is important to recognize that Open Science, as a largely digital endeavor, relies heavily on the connectivity of potential users. It is also important to recognize that earlier framings of connectivity as online/offline, or the “digital divide” do not adequately capture the ability to interact with open resources. To enrich our understanding of these challenges it is helpful to turn to a related discipline, namely ICT4D, that has developed the concept of “meaningful connectivity” as an alternative to these binary framings.

Combining the concept of “meaningful connectivity” with the Capabilities Approach, a normative approach to human welfare, this talk develops the concept of “meaningful openness” through which to problematize current inequities within the Open Science landscape. The talk outlines how meaningful openness can capture the constraints that an individual experiences when engaging with engagement with open resources.