Simon Hodson has been Executive Director of CODATA since August 2013.

Simon is an expert on data policy issues and research data management. He has contributed to influential reports on Current Best Practice for Research Data Management Policies and to the Science International Accord on Open Data in a Big Data World.  He chaired the European Commission’s Expert Group on FAIR Data which produced the report Turning FAIR into Reality (https://doi.org/10.2777/1524). He was also vice-chair of the UNESCO Open Science Advisory Committee, with an influential role in drafting the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, which was adopted in November 2021.

Simon is now coordinator of the European Commission Funded Project ‘WorldFAIR’ which will prepare a set of recommendations for domain and cross-domain interoperability and a framework for FAIR assessment on the basis of close cooperation with a set of eleven international case studies. He is also a member of the EOSC Semantic Interoperability Task Force.

As a significant part of his CODATA role, Simon is tasked with preparing a major ISC and CODATA Decadal Programme on ‘Making Data Work for Cross-Domain Grand Challenges’, which will improve the coordination of specifications for data integration and interoperability for interdisciplinary research.  Simon also contributes to the coordination of the CODATA Data Policy Committee.

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