The World Science Day for Peace and Development 2019 will be devoted to the theme of "Open Science, leaving no one behind".  Celebrated every 10 November, World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the important role of science in society and  underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives. It also underscores the role scientists play in broadening our understanding of the remarkable, fragile planet we call home and in making our societies more sustainable.

Open Science is not only an issue of science being open to the research community, as in “open access” and “open data”, but refers to a science open to society.  In spite of the progress made in recent years, we are still witnessing great disparities across and within different regions and different countries when it comes to accessing science, technology and innovation (STI) and enjoying their benefits. To address these disparities and close the existing STI gaps, Open Science is an important step in the right direction. Details at https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldscienceday

Scientists can play a key role in helping advance this. I can give one small example. 6 years ago  (November 2013), I was invited to join the  European Union scientific delegation to Australia for meetings and workshop at the Australian Academy of Science [1] in Canberra.  

One of the key official outcomes of the EU-Australia meeting was the establishment an Open Source Geoscience  Laboratory at the  University of Melbourne with linked laboratories across Australia and New Zealand. Details at 

https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/third_european_australian_workshop_on_research_infrastructure_communique_final_16_dec.pdf

That was the humble start of the first Open Source Geospatial Lab at the University of Melbourne. I am grateful to colleagues at the University of Melbourne for making this possible   Details at http://spatial.unimelb.edu.au/engagement/ica-osgeo-laboratory/