DDE Platform Global Launch at the DDE Open Science Forum held at the UNESCO HQ in Paris
The DDE Open Science Forum, co-organized by UNESCO, IUGS, IYBSSD (International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development) and DDE at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France on 9 November 2022 attracted more than 150 attendees. The Forum resulted in the successful global launch of Deep-time Digital Earth (DDE), the first big science initiative of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), one of the world’s largest scientific unions which is commemorating its 60th anniversary.
The most significant achievement of DDE since it began in 2019 is the design and development of the DDE Platform (www.deep-time.org), a one-stop platform that will promote research, linking of data, teaching and education, and raising awareness of the societal relevance of geosciences data and knowledge, enabling countries to reach sustainable development goals.
The DDE Platform (alpha version) after a 6-month period of validation and testing was globally launched on 8 November 2022 in the presence of nearly 50 in-person and on-line participants attending the meetings of the Governing Council (GC) and the Scientific Committee (SC) of DDE at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The DDE SC evaluated 11 projects that had been submitted for potential funding under the DDE Seed Grant Facility established in 2022. The recommendations of the DDE SC will be submitted to the Executive Committee (EC) of DDE which is scheduled to meet in mid-December 2022 for consideration and final decisions.
More than 50 internationally renowned scientists attended the DDE Updated Meeting, jointly organized by DDE and the Commission on Geological Mapping of the World (CGMW), convened at the Maison de la Geologie in Paris on 7 November 2022. The scientists learnt about the progress made by some of the 27 Working and Task Groups (WTGs), 24 Members of DDE and 3 DDE international alliances. Reports on some of the research projects funded by DDE in 2021 were also submitted and discussed.
DDE is intending to pursue dialogue and cooperation with several DDE Members and potential new members and partners that were initiated during formal and informal discussions during the Forum and other DDE events mentioned above. In DDE particular, DDE intends to develop initiatives that would address some of the important priorities that were identified in the implementation of the UNESCO Open Science recommendation adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2021.