World Bank to implement new Open Access Policy starting July 2012
The World Bank April 10, 2012 announced that it will implement a new Open Access policy for its research outputs and knowledge products, effective July 1, 2012.
As the first phase of the policy, a new Open Knowledge Repository has been launched, the Bank said in a statement adding it has also adopted a set of Creative Commons copyright licenses.
The new policy builds on recent efforts to increase access to information at the World Bank and to make its research as widely available as possible.
“The new Open Access policy, which will be rolled out in phases in the coming year, formalizes the Bank’s practice of making research and knowledge freely available online,” the statement said.
The World Bank stated “now anybody” is free to use, re-use and redistribute most of the Bank’s knowledge products and research outputs for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
The new Open Access policy and launch of the Open Knowledge Repository represent the next major development in the World Bank’s Open Development Agenda.
President of the World Bank Group, Robert B. Zoellick said “Making our knowledge widely and readily available will empower others to come up with solutions to the world’s toughest problems. Our new Open Access policy is the natural evolution for a World Bank that is opening up more and more.”
By Ekow Quandzie