Summary

The Concordat was "developed by a UK multi-stakeholder group" in order to "ensure that the research data gathered and generated by members of the UK research community is made openly available for use by others wherever possible in a manner consistent with relevant legal, ethical, disciplinary and regulatory frameworks and norms, and with due regard to the costs involved" (The Concordat Working Group, 2016). The document is based on balancing the potential benefits of open data with the need to manage access "in order to maintain confidentiality, protect individuals' privacy, respect consent terms, as well as managing security or other risks" (Ibid). It also acknowledges the cost of data management, which it says should be "respected by all parties", and affirms the right of "creators" of data to "reasonable first use."
The benefits of open access and sharing of data are well documented, and these are reviewed in the second appendix to the Concordat. Citing The Research Data Alliance's 2014 "The Data Harvest Report" the authors write "the storing, sharing and re-use of scientific data on a massive scale will stimulate great new sources of wealth. It turns data into a type of infrastructure, transforming the enterprise of science so anyone, anywhere, anytime can use and re-use data. It will mean new products and services, new companies and jobs" (Genova, et.al., 2014).

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