The U.S. National Committee (USNC) for the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) functions as a bridge between the scientific and technical community in the United States and the international CODATA on data issues addressed in the natural and social sciences. The USNC operates within the National Research Council's Board on International Scientific Organizations and is the principal organizational entity of BISO’s Office of International Scientific and Technical Information Programs.
International CODATA The international CODATA, an interdisciplinary committee of the International Council for Science (ICSU), is concerned with various types of quantitative data resulting from experimental measurements or observations in the natural and social sciences, and the engineering disciplines. Particular emphasis is given to data management problems common to different scientific fields and to data sharing among these disciplines. CODATA’s objectives are: improving the quality and accessibility of data, as well as the methods by which data are acquired, managed, and analyzed; facilitating international cooperation among those collecting, organizing, and using data; and promoting an increased awareness in the scientific and technical community of the importance of these activities.		CODATA Newsletter If you would like to receive an electronic copy of the CODATA newsletter, please contact Cheryl Levy at CODATA international. IP at the National Academies The USNC/CODATA produces a quarterly newsletter reporting on intellectual property issues addressed at the National Academies. Click here to subscribe.
About the Committee Consistent with these guiding objectives, the USNC undertakes special studies and projects. Detailed information may be found on the ‘Activities’ page. The committee also counsels the U.S. National Delegate to CODATA on the U.S. position regarding official CODATA business, and provides a link between U.S. and international scientific data activities, taking into account the needs of the scientific and technological (S&T) user community. The USNC/CODATA also monitors and assesses changes to the domestic and international intellectual property and policy regime relating to scientific and technical data activities. In particular, attention is devoted to ongoing changes to copyright, database licensing, and sui generis legal protection of databases, as well as the U.S. federal government’s and other governments’ policies relating to public information and "full and open access" to S&T data.