In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Creative Commons published an article titled, “Now Is the Time for Open Access Policies—Here’s Why” in March 2020. A lot has changed since then and it’s important to assess the progress made and take a hard look at the dangers ahead.

In this panel, we’ll examine the fields of Open Data, Open Science, and Open Source Medical Hardware with leading experts and practitioners, asking questions like: “What does “open” mean in the COVID-19 context?” “What role can open access and the open community play in ensuring there is timely and equitable access to medical and scientific research outputs and data, vaccines and treatments?” “Can open science and open data help prevent the next pandemic?” “What legal tools should be used to expedite the manufacturing of vaccines?” “How can we balance individual privacy with the need to share information about genome variation and patterns of infection?”

Panellists include: 

• Brigitte Vézina | Director of Policy, Creative Commons (Moderator)
• Dr. Tarek Loubani | Medical Director and Physician, Glia
• Dr. Tim Hubbard | Professor of Bioinformatics, Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics at King’s College London
• Dr. Uma Suthersanen | Professor of Global Intellectual Property Law, Queen Mary University of London

Date: Tuesday, 16 March 2021
Time: 11:00 – 12:20 EST/15:00 – 16:20 GMT/16:00 – 17:20 CET
Location: Anywhere and everywhere! We’ll be using a virtual platform called Hopin to host the event.

Join us as we attempt to map out the present and the future of “open” in the era of COVID-19! 

Pay-What-You-Can Registration: We’re aiming to make this event as accessible to as many participants as possible. All ticket holders receive the same access to the event. Register by Monday, 15 March!

?: Featured image is“Need for Hope” by Joey Guidone (CC BY-NC-SA)