Scientists call for more support in 'open science'

The results of scientific research and big data should be more accessible to people at all levels to accelerate the development of science and technology, two world leading scientists said Tuesday.

A staunch advocate of the so-called open science, Sergio Bertolucci, the research and computing director at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, said what scientists discover is not under their sole possession but is for everyone.

Touchscreens and the World Wide Web are some of the examples that were first invented for research purposes at CERN but later shared with the public, Bertolucci said in a lecture during a global science meeting in Daejeon.

Citing his experience in astronomy, Phil Diamond, director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, also said open science, a collaborative way of doing research, leads to improved results.

"I find it unfortunate that in some areas of science, openness is not so common. I think science suffers as a result," he said. 

Diamond said governments should take part in establishing infrastructure to let scientists cope with the enormous volumes of data and bringing in young people to the industry.

"Above all, we need people. We need young people, the new talents coming forward to develop the techniques to process this data," Diamond said.

The scientists are here to attend the OECD Ministerial Meeting Daejeon 2015, World Science & Technology Forum that runs from Monday through Friday in Daejeon, a city packed with science institutes located 164 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)