PERSPECTIVE Open government data and environmental science: a federal Canadian perspective Dominique G. Rochea*, Monica Granadosb, Claire C. Austinb, Scott Wilsonc, Gregory M. Mitchellc, Paul A. Smithc, Steven J. Cookea, and Joseph R. Bennetta aCanadian Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation, Department of Biology and Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada; bScience and Technology Strategies Directorate, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3, Canada; cCanadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3, Canada *
[email protected] Abstract Governments worldwide are releasing data into the public domain via open government data initiatives. Many such data sets are directly relevant to environmental science and complement data collected by academic researchers to address complex and challenging environmental problems. The Government of Canada is a leader in open data among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, generating and releasing troves of valuable research data. However, achieving comprehensive and FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) open government data is not without its chal- lenges. For example, identifying and understanding Canada’s international commitments, policies, and guidelines on open data can be daunting. Similarly, open data sets within the Government of Canada are spread across a diversity of repositories and portals, which may hinder their discoverability. OPEN ACCESS For personal use only. We describe Canada’s federal initiatives promoting open government data, and outline where data sets of relevance to environmental science can be found. We summarize research data management chal- lenges identified by the Government of Canada, plans to modernize the approach to open data for envi- Citation: Roche DG, Granados M, ronmental science and best practices for data discoverability, access, and reuse.