Data sharing – broadly defined as the ability to make data resources available to multiple researchers – has become increasingly relevant in the life science sector. Several government initiatives are following the “open data”, “open source”, and “open innovation” movement. However, this growing trend to encourage scientists to share and pool their results is facing some challenges vis-à-vis traditional collaboration models. Whereas data needs to be disseminated across multiple jurisdictions or shared internally to gain better insights, the overall problem is that most current legal frameworks work in isolation and are no longer efficient.

The lack of a consistent approach to transparency policy and coherent regulatory environment has inhibited the wide scale of data sharing and potentially stifled innovation. Determining the legal framework that best fits this large scientific ecosystem is complex. With a number of comparative case studies, this edited volume brings together leading scholars from diverse disciplines and jurisdictions working in this field. The aim is to introduce data sharing practices in the life science and examine legal routes toward more scientific collaboration based on “openness” and “transparency” principles. The book offers a series of high-level, global, and interdisciplinary case studies on the normative, policy and ethical dilemmas raised by data sharing in the life science sector today.