OPEN ACCESS WEEK 2013 National Conference on Opening up by Closing the Circle: Strengthening Open Access in India

UNESCO, in partnership with Central Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) is organizing a national conference on 'Opening up by Closing the Circle: Strengthening Open Access in India' on 21 October 2013 to mark the international Open Access Week.

The first international Open Access for Research Week was celebrated on 19–23 October 2009. Hundreds of leading academic and research sites in over 30 countries marked the week in unique ways, and expressed their support for the advancement of knowledge through free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research.

Ever since, Open Access Week has been observed internationally to help raise awareness of the potential benefits of Open Access (OA) for research, and to celebrate milestones in making OA a norm in the conduct of science and scholarship.

The one-day conference will focus on the need to create an enabling environment for OA in India, to promote and upscale existing OA initiatives, and to encourage the development of new OA programmes. This can be done by 'closing the circle' or linking multiple stakeholder groups, namely researchers, librarians, archivists, publishers, technologists, and policymakers, taking into account their concerns and views and providing a platform for them to advocate for a common cause. The conference will provide a unique opportunity to stakeholders to pool their insights, identify and discuss key OA-related issues in the country, and create a roadmap for strengthening OA in India.

The specific objectives of the national conference are to:

  • Build awareness among the stakeholder groups and student community about the importance of OA to scientific research
  • Facilitate the exchange of experiences, knowledge and best practices of various institutions in the OA space
  • Contribute towards the creation of an advocacy group that will promote OA at institutional and national levels
  • Analyze current trends and pitfalls with regard to the OA landscape in India
  • Develop policy recommendations for the creation of a national mandate to promote OA
  • Promote partnerships and collaborations among interested stakeholders

CONFERENCE AGENDA
21st October 2013
JNU Convention Centre,
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi 110067

Timing
Activity

9:30 AM-10:00 AM
Registration

 
Inaugural Session

10:00 AM-11:00 AM

  • Lighting of Lamp
  • Welcome Address by Prof. Sudha Pai, Rector, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
  • Address by Prof. S K Sopory, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
  • Inaugural Address by Dr Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, MHRD, Government of India
  •    Address by Mr Shigeru Aoyagi, Director and UNESCO Representative to Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka
  •    Address by  Dr Sanjaya Mishra, Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia
  • Vote of Thanks by Dr Ramesh C Gaur, University Librarian, JNU

11:00 AM-11:30 AM
Keynote Address by Prof. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, Vice Chancellor, University of Hyderabad

11:30 AM-11:45 AM
Tea Break

Panel 1: Why Open Access?

11:45 AM-01.00 PM
Chair: Dr BK Gairola, Mission Director, e-Governance Group, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India
Invited Speakers:

  • Dr RR Hirwani, Head, CSIR Unit for Research and Development of Information Products
  • Mr Sanjiv Goswami, Managing Director, Springer India Pvt Ltd
  • Dr Usha Mujoo Munshi, Librarian, Indian Institute of Public Administration
  • Dr ARD Prasad, Professor and Head, Documentation, Research and Training Centre, Indian Statistical Institute
  • Dr Nehaa Chaudhari, Centre for Internet and Society

1.00 PM-2:00 PM
Lunch

Panel 2: The Open Access Environment in India

2:00 PM-3:45 PM
Chair: Dr NV Sathyanarayana, Chairman and Managing Director, Informatics India, Bangalore
Invited Speakers:

  • Mr. Vivek Mehra, Managing Director and CEO, SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd., New Delhi
  • Prof. Uma Kanjilal, Director, School of Social Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
  • Mr Pratapanand Jha, Director (Cultural Informatics),Indira Gandhi National Council for Arts
  • Dr NV Sathyanarayana, Chairman and Managing Director, Informatics India, Bangalore
  • Dr Jagdish Arora, Director, Inflibnet, Ahmedabad
  • Dr Sukhdev Singh, Technical Director, National Informatics Centre

3:45 PM-4:15 PM
Tea Break

Roundtable:
Towards a National Open Access Policy: Forging the Missing Links

4:15 PM-4:30 PM
Rapporteur's summary of Panels 1 and 2 by Dr. Parveen Babbar, Deputy Librarian, JNU

4:30 PM-5:30 PM
Participants of Roundtable

  • Dr. D. Rama Rao, National Director, NAI, ICAR, New Delhi
  • Dr Gautam Bose, Head (Social Development),National Informatics Centre
  • Mr. Vivek Mehra, Managing Director and CEO, SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd., New Delhi
  • Dr N V Sathyanarayana, Chairman and Managing Director, Informatics India, Bangalore
  • Dr Ramesh C Gaur, University Librarian, Jawaharlal Nehru University
  • Ms Iskra Panevska, Adviser for Communication and Information for South Asia, UNESCO New Delhi
  • Dr Sanjaya Mishap, Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia

Note: Prior to the event, certain background documents such as ICAR's Draft OA Policy and UNESCO's Model OA Policy will be circulated among participants of the policy roundtable. These could serve as useful models when framing a national OA policy.

Closing Session

05:30 PM-05:35 PM
Concluding remarks by Ms Iskra Panevska, Adviser for Communication and Information for South Asia, UNESCO, New Delhi

05:35 PM-05:50 PM
Valedictory Address by Mr.Amit Khare, Joint Secretary,Department of Higher Education, MHRD, Government of India

05:50 PM-06:00 PM
Vote of thanks by Dr Ramesh C Gaur, University Librarian, Jawaharlal Nehru University

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