Why Open Access is
Right for the World Bank
Carlos Rossel, Publisher, The World Bank
Open Access Africa
University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
November 5, 2012
Why Open Access is
Right for the World Bank
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It wasn’t always so
It’s Mission Driven
It’s Cutting Edge
It makes us Relevant
It makes us Open and Transparent
It makes us Accountable
It makes us Results Driven
It Works
It wasn’t always so
“The Bank needs to exploit the
commercial potential of its publications”
It Wasn’t Always So
– Publisher’s Job Description, January 2008
World Bank Mission
Statement
Our Dream is a World Free of
Poverty
To fight poverty with passion and
professionalism for lasting results
To help people help themselves and their
environment by providing resources,
sharing knowledge, building capacity and
forging partnerships in the public and
private sector
“We need to do development differently”
Robert Zoellick, President, The World Bank Group
New Direction: Democratizing Development
We need to throw open the doors, recognizing that others can
find and create their own solutions. And this open research
revolution is underway. We need to recognize that
development knowledge is no longer the sole province of the
researcher, the scholar, or the ivory tower.
The aim is to open the treasure chest of the World Bank’s
data and knowledge to every village health care worker,
every researcher, everyone.
Georgetown University, September 2010
Conflict & Failed States
Early Childhood Education
Investment Climate
Climate Change
Jobs
Gender Equity
Old Age Security
Health
Conflict & Failed States
Early Childhood Education
Investment Climate
Climate Change
Jobs
Gender Equity
Old Age Security
Health
Embracing
Openness
Open About
What We Know
(Data and Knowledge)
Open About
What We Do
(Operations and
Results)
Open About
How We Work
Promote
Open Government
(Partnerships for
Openness)
(Transparency,
Accountability)
T H E WO R L D B A N K O P E N AG E N DA
Four Pillars of the
World Bank’s Open Agenda
1. Access to Information
• Moved from positive to negative list
• Except for small list of exceptions,
documents and reports are available
• Millions pages viewed since July 2010
“The World Bank’s Access to Information Policy is
the gold standard for financial institutions…”
− Chad Dobson, Bank Information Center
Open About
What We Do
(Operations
and Results)
Access to Information – Website
Access to Information – iPad App
Four Pillars of the
World Bank’s Open Agenda
1.
2.
Access to Information
Open Data
Open About
What We Know
Open About
What We Do
(Data and
Knowledge)
(Operations
and Results)
Open Data Portal
Open Data: Mapping for Results
Portal
The Impact of Open Data
40
35
Millions
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Unique
Visitors
Unique
visitors/week
Apr '09 - Mar '10
Total Visits
Total
Visits
Apr '10 - Mar '11
Pages Viewed
Pages
Viewed
Apr '11 - Mar '12
Four Pillars of the
World Bank’s Open Agenda
1.
2.
3.
4.
Access to Information
Open Data
Open Access Policy
Creative Commons
Licensing
Open About
What We
Know
(Data and
Knowledge)
Open About
What We Do
(Operations
and Results)
Our Conflict
Dissemination of Print Books
500
450
400
(Thousands)
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
FY12
“Followers” on Social Media
100
90
80
(Thousands)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
FY12
Dissemination of Print and Electronic
7
6
(Millions)
5
4
3
2
1
-
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
FY12
Strategic Review of
World Bank Publications
Create a cutting edge publishing model
that fully embraces free and open access,
with a particular emphasis on electronic dissemination
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Weekly Downloads
Weekly average: 8,604 Documents Downloaded
Large increase in October in number of downloads, doubling from September across all collections
Monthly Downloads
90
80
70
Thousands
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Apr-12
May-12
Jun-12
Developing Countries
Jul-12
Aug-12
Sep-12
Oct-12
Developed Countries
Monthly average: 36,874 Documents Downloaded;
42% from Developing Countries
Total Downloads
258,117 Downloads (58% developed, 42% developing countries)
Large increase in October in number of downloads, doubling from September across all collections
Top 30 Countries, by Downloads
Timeline of Content Added
Total: Over 9,900 documents
Additional legacy content to be added in 2013
Timeline of Repository Development and Addition of Content
2012
OKR launches with 3,000 research outputs and
knowledge products from 2008 to present
April
May
Content: Import of 3,000 legacy publications
from 2005 to 2008
June
July
Access to Information policy
July
implemented
Inclusion of Global Financial Development Report
2013
October
October
New functionality: Author Profiles
Development: New custom workflow engine
September
October
Inclusion of Doing Business 2013
President Kim takes office
July
August
Content: Import of 2,800+ Knowledge Notes
from 2005 to 2008
Content: Import
published
Content:
Importof
of1,000
1,000externally
externally
published journal
articles
journal
articles
Inclusion of World Development Report 2013
November
November
New functionality: Enhanced download statistics,
and citations reporting
Sustainable Open Access Publishing
in a Mission-Driven, Non-Profit
Institution
• Content. Lots of good content
• Strong brand
• Enabling authorizing environment
 OA Policy / CC Licensing / Publishing Policy
• Client oriented
 Agile
 Competitive
• Focus on customers
• Innovative
• Entrepreneurial
• Really good people
• Luck
The Currency of
Open Access Publishing
Next Steps
• Network with, and learn from, the OA community
• Partner with other institutions for repository
interoperability
 South-South knowledge exchange
 South-North knowledge exchange
• Develop Open Educational Resources
• Advocate for Open Access
• Where we can add value, help develop OA capacity
Why Open Access is
Right for the World Bank
•
•
•
•
•
•
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It’s Mission Driven
It’s Cutting Edge
It makes us Relevant
It makes us Open and Transparent
It makes us Accountable
It makes us Results Driven
It Works
If you’re a mission-driven, non-profit institution
open access is right for you too
Carlos Rossel, Publisher, The World Bank
crossel@worldbank.org