Session Conveners: Prof. Virginia Murray, Prof. Lili Zhang, Prof. Burcak Basbug Erkan

Session Background

The world is entering an era of compounded crises, generating unprecedented volumes of data. Yet each crisis also exposes the fragility of existing data governance frameworks. The CODATA International Data Policy Committee 2030 Agenda calls for a fundamental rethinking of global data policy architectures. This vision moves away from reactive, siloed approaches toward anticipatory, equitable, and interoperable systems that uphold open science principles while respecting data sovereignty, security, and ethics. A critical gap remains, however. Even as nations and institutions endorse high-level declarations such as the 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, there remains an urgent need for operational, tested policies for managing data during acute crises. Practical tools such as the UNESCO CODATA Data Policies for Times of Crisis Toolkit and its accompanying global implementation survey represent important steps forward. Yet this session goes beyond any single toolkit. We will situate crisis data policies within the broader IDPC 2030 vision and explore how they can serve as both a litmus test and a catalyst for reforming global data governance. Against a backdrop of rising geopolitical fragmentation, AI-driven disinformation, and calls for data solidarity, this session argues that how we govern data in the next crisis will shape the legitimacy and resilience of open science for decades to come.

Why This Matters

This session addresses a critical gap by moving from high-level open science commitments to operational, cross-sectoral data governance during emergencies. Without such policies, data remains siloed, ethical safeguards collapse, and interoperability fails precisely when it is most needed. This session is also closely tied to the CODATA International Data Policy Committee 2030 Agenda, which calls for rethinking global data policy frameworks to support resilience, equity, and trust in the post-2030 sustainable development era. By connecting practical crisis data efforts with the IDPC's long-term vision, the session will help shape how the scientific and policy communities prepare for future crises. These events will be treated not as isolated incidents but as systemic challenges requiring coordinated, open, and ethical data practices.

What the Session Will Do

The session will achieve three main objectives. First, it will present preliminary results from the UNESCO CODATA global DPTC survey, highlighting common strengths, gaps, and capacity needs across organizations and regions. Second, it will provide a hands-on walkthrough of the DPTC Toolkit, demonstrating how the Checklist can be used for drills, gap analysis, and monitoring. Third, it will facilitate a policy-design dialogue linking practical crisis tools to the CODATA IDPC 2030 Agenda and exploring how crisis data policies can inform broader data governance reform. A dedicated tabletop exercise will allow participants to apply the DPTC Checklist to a simulated multi-hazard crisis scenario, yielding concrete recommendations for their own institutional contexts.

Who Should Attend

This session is designed for policymakers, data managers, disaster risk reduction practitioners, open science officers, and researchers involved in data governance, crisis response, or the implementation of open science policies. It is particularly relevant to representatives from government agencies, international organizations, research institutions, and academic libraries that manage sensitive or high-value data. Attendees will leave with a tested toolkit, a clear understanding of global benchmarking practices, and actionable pathways to align their crisis data policies with the UNESCO Open Science Framework and the emerging CODATA IDPC 2030 vision.

Proposed Speakers

Reshaping data in crisis governance: An UN perspective (Prof. Virginia Murray, Chair of UNDRR-ISC Hazard Information Profiles 2025 Update & Co-chair of CODATA IDPC)

Threefold approach of sustainable transformation by 2030 and beyond (Prajal Pradhan, University of Groningen)

Protect Essentials in managing crisis data (Dr. Lili Zhang, Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

When Digitalization Meets Green Innovation: Complementarity, Not Expansion, Drives Urban Pollution and Carbon Reduction (Shucheng He, et al, Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

UNESCO CODATA global DPTC survey (Prof. Burçak Basbug Erkan, Professor of Statistics and Disaster Science, Middle East Technical University, Türkiye, & Co-chair of CODATA IDPC)

(30’) Group discussion

Panelist: All speakers, Lianchong Zhang (AIRCAS), Lili Zhang (CNIC, CAS), TBD

• What are the most critical gaps between existing national data policies and the requirements in compound crisis scenarios?
• How can the CODATA IDPC 2030 Agenda move from a high-level vision to actionable milestones that different countries, regardless of their data maturity level, can realistically adopt?
• What institutional or political barriers have prevented the widespread adoption of anticipatory data governance frameworks despite clear lessons learned from recent global crises?
• Feedback to the UNESCO CODATA global DPTC survey.