Information Sharing Agreement as adopted by the In Situ/On Farm Project in Central Asia
INFORMATION SHARING AGREEMENT
This agreement is made between the following parties (hereinafter, the parties):
1. Name and address of the National Executive Agency in Kazakhstan
2. Name and address of the National Executive Agency in Kyrgyzstan
3. Name and address of the National Executive Agency in Tajikistan
4. Name and address of the National Executive Agency in Turkmenistan
5. Name and address of the National Executive Agency in Uzbekistan (Hereinafter, these five parties will be referred to as National Executing Agencies.)
6. Bioversity International (“Bioversity”)
Background
This agreement deals with the collaboration on sharing and dissemination of the information and data generated by the UNEP/GEF Project “In Situ/On Farm Conservation and Use of Agricultural Biodiversity (Horticultural Crops and Wild Fruit Species) in Central Asia”. The main purpose of the Project has been the conservation and sustainable use of horticultural crop and wild fruit species genetic diversity in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan through addressing the problem of inadequate information, coordination and knowledge, thereby contributing to the elimination of the other major barriers to conserving fruit genetic resources (unsustainable use of wild fruit species and loss of traditional diversitybased farming systems).
As a result, better information and knowledge on wild resources, on the number and quality of horticultural crops and their genetic resources, distribution, conservation, and use has been attained. Therefore, knowledge about levels and distribution of fruit species genetic diversity, and the value of this diversity for sustainable agriculture and ecosystem health have been enhanced in order for them to be used to strengthen national and regional policies and legislation towards the conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity.
The main features during the implementation of the Project have been the good collaboration and coordination among national partners in sharing knowledge and experience and in strengthening links among scientists and farmers. The present Information Sharing Agreeement reflects this desire for continuous collaboration among national partners, so that existing linkages among institutions continue in the future through enabling facilitated access to data, publications and resources that have been developed as a result of the Project and that regional collaboration is increased towards agrobiodiversity conservation.
In consideration of the foregoing, the parties agree as follows:
1. Objectives
The objectives of this Information Sharing Agreement are:
To provide a framework for the provision, storage, sharing and dissemination of the information resulting from the Project.
To set forth the terms and conditions under which Project partners will share information among themselves and with non-Project partners through a website.
2. Use of terms
Project: UNEP/GEF Project “In Situ/On Farm Conservation and Use of Agricultural Biodiversity (Horticultural Crops and Wild Fruit Species) in Central Asia”.
Project partners: Individuals who have been involved in the implementation of the Project, either as members of the National Executing Agencies or not, and who will be granted access to all the information stored in the website.
Website: Digital database held by the Project Coordinator which stores the information and is available on the internet.
Information: All the information generated by the Project that will be included in the website.
Survey data: Information collected through focus group discussions, household surveys and interviews during the Project.
Project Coordinator: Institution in charge of coordinating the implementation of the Project, i.e. Bioversity.
National Executing Agencies (hereinafter NEA): Institutions in charge of implementing the Project at the national level and parties to this agreement.
National Focal Point (hereinafter NFP): Person or persons designated by each National Executing Agency with capacity to provide information to be uploaded on the website and take decisions about access and use of the information by third parties.
3. Open access information and restricted access information
3.1. Parties agree that there will be three types of information:
Open Access Information: Information published on the website and publicly available to Project partners and the general public.
Restricted Access Information: Information that will be stored in a restricted area of the website, which will be accessible only to Project partners. Restricted access information will be made available to non-Project partners upon appropriate permission from the party that provided the information. Restricted access information will be considered publicly available without limitations or restraints after a period of seven years from the official date of finalization of the Project (December 2011).
Absolute Restricted Access Information: Information that will be stored in a restricted area of the website, which will be accessible only to the representatives of the party that provided the information. Absolute Restricted Access Information will be made available to Project partners and the general public upon appropriate permission from the party that provided the information.
3.2. Parties agree that the following information will be Open Access Information: A list of all the scientific publications (articles, research papers, monographs, etc.) as a result of the project;
Scientific publications (articles, research papers, monographs and other publications) as a result of the project, as long as they are allowed by the publisher;
Publications on technologies related to the cultivation and management of orchards;
Database on Project partners;
Draft laws and regulations;
Project proposals to conserve agrobiodiversity;
Training materials (on technologies for the cultivation and management of orchards, etc.) for education and capacity-building purposes, and under protection of intellectual property rights in case of replication;
Information on training centers;
Number of key nurseries and their agroecological zone;
Farmer and households´ code numbers;
Farmers’ major specializations;
In relation to location references of households, farms and settlements, only open access to latitude and longitude location references of their District information in degrees and minutes without seconds;
Morphological characterization of varieties and species;
General information related to traditional knowledge and management practices; not know-how;
General information about the importance of plant genetic resources and local diversity of fruit crops and wild species for the regional and global community;
All the information included in the survey data that is not under the consideration of Restricted Access Information or Absolute Restricted Access Information.
3.3. Parties agree that the following Information will be Restricted Access Information:
Full content of unpublished scientific work (articles, research papers, monographs, among others);
Database on demonstration plots;
Database on key nurseries and their locations;
Farmers and households´ names;
Evaluation data of varieties and species;
Traditional knowledge and management practices: Restricted access under acknowledgement and copyright protection.
3.4. Parties agree that the following information will be Absolute Restricted Access Information:
Socioeconomic data resulting from household surveys;
Latitude and longitude location references of households, farms and settlements; Settlement names;
Endangered species geographical location (for example, varieties under the Red List and CITES).
4. Obligations
4.1. The National Executing Agencies (NEA) will:
Share with all the parties complete contact details of the individuals that have been designated as National Focal Points (NFP).
Ensure that the NFP will coordinate the execution of the responsibilities under this agreement and act as the main contact point between the NEA and the Project Coordinator.
Through the NFP, regularly provide the information to be uploaded on the website to the Project Coordinator.
When providing the information to be uploaded on the website, confirm its open or restricted nature according to Article 3 of this agreement.
Specify the Project partners who will have access to the Restricted Access Information and communicate their contact details to the Project Coordinator.
Obtain any necessary permissions to make the information available on the website.
4.2. Project Coordinator/Bioversity will:
Design the website.
Upload the information provided by the NFP to the website following the conditions of accessibility specified in Article 3 of this agreement for each type of information.
Provide technical guidance on information quality.
Manage the legal basis for access to and use of the website (disclaimers, copyright notifications, terms of use and acknowledgment, among others) and prominently display them on the website.
Place a copy of this agreement on the restricted access area of the website.
Not alter, modify, or otherwise change, the information in any way if the quality standards are met. Not claim exclusive property rights over any information provided by the NFP.
Not express any opinion on the information when making them publicly available.
Acknowledge that the NEA are the source of the information and encourage website users to acknowledge the website as the source of the information. The “terms of use” and acknowledgements will be prominently displayed on the website.
5. Maintenance of the website
Bioversity commits to maintain the website for the first two years of functioning, from the moment the website is published on the internet; after this period, NEA will take the responsibility for its maintenance. Parties may decide to amend or terminate this agreement or to sign a new agreement regulating the new responsibilities in relation to its maintenance.
After the mentioned period of two years, Bioversity will not have any coordination responsibilities and will not be accountable for the information displayed on the website.
6. Conditions for sharing restricted access information among Project partners and with non-Project partners
All Project partners will have access to the Restricted Access Information provided by all parties. If a Project partner wants to use Restricted Access Information for commercial purposes, such Project partner will ask the permission of the NEA that provided such information.
Each National Executive Agency will be able to reproduce and distribute Restricted Access Information originally provided by the same National Executive Agency, without any need to obtain permission from the other parties.
Parties agree that once the Restricted Access Information is considered to be publicly available without limitations or restraints according to Article 3 of this agreement, parties will be able to use, reproduce and distribute such information for free, without any need to obtain permission from one another.
Non-Project partners’ access to Restricted Access Information will require the explicit permission from the NEA that provided such information. In this case, the NEA can impose specific terms and conditions for the use of the information. The contact details of all the NFP will be available on the website for non-Project partners to get in touch with the NFP regarding the access to and use of Restricted Access Information.
7. Dissemination of information and acknowledgement
When disseminating and publishing the information or any research finding based on such information, the parties will recognize the other parties through citation, acknowledge or reference to the source of information as well as UNEP-GEF as financial supporter of the Project.
Parties will publicize the website by including its links in their institutional websites and in scientific publications resulting from the use of the information stored on the website.
Parties will make efforts to ensure that all website users publicly recognize the parties as the authors of the information as well as UNEP-GEF and any other donor as financial supporters of the Project.
8. Intellectual property rights
Neither the receipt of the information nor its publication through website shall affect whatever intellectual property rights the National Executive Agencies may hold with respect to the information.
9. Effect, amendment and termination of agreement
This Agreement will enter into force on the date of signature by not less than two parties and will become effective for every party at the moment of signature by each party.
The terms of this agreement can be amended upon written agreement by all the parties.
Any party may unilaterally withdraw from the agreement by giving at least thirty (30) days prior written notice to all the parties of this agreement.
10. Settlement of disputes
Any disputes or differences of any kind arising between the parties during the implementation of this Agreement shall be settled amicably upon consultation between all parties in accordance with tenor and intent of this Agreement.
Parties agree that six originals of this agreement are signed in Russian and six originals are signed in English (1 original for each Party) and that all originals have equal validity.
Date and signature
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