GEObs: Global Network of Databases
The Global Ethics Observatory (GEObs) was officially launched during the 12th Session of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) in Tokyo, Japan, on 15 December 2005.
This UNESCO initiative is freely accessible online to all Member States and the general public. It is designed to serve as a valuable consultative and comparative resource hub of ethics activities around the world to encourage collaboration.
The GEObs system is also intended to become a crucial platform for supporting and advancing ethics activities by assisting Member States and other interested parties to identify experts, establish ethics committees, construct informed policies in the area of ethics, and design ethics teaching curricula.
The observatory consists of the following databases:
- Database 1: Who’s Who in Ethics
The Who’s Who in Ethics database is a compilation of information regarding ethics experts around the world. Experts are determined via a peer review process based on the quality and focus of recent publications in ethics of science and technology; involvement in ethics of science and technology research projects; and the level and extent of ethics components in the individual’s educational and professional background.
- Database 2: Ethics Institutions
The Ethics Institutions database provides information on departments, institutes, centers, commissions, councils, committees, review boards, societies, associations, and other relevant entities in the area of ethics of science and technology. Institutions within the database have been validated against their mission, activities, and publications as a confirmation of their active involvement in the field of ethics of science and technology.
- Database 3: Ethics Teaching Programmes
The Ethics Teaching Programmes database contains descriptions of existing teaching programmes within the field of ethics of science and technology. (See also: Ethics Education programme and regional meetings for sampling of teaching programmes)
- Database 4: Ethics Related Legislation and Guidelines*
The fourth database is a collection of examples and descriptions of ethics related legislation and guidelines introduced within various countries and institutions worldwide to regulate activities in the fields of science and technology.
- Database 5: Codes of Conduct
The fifth database provides a selection of Codes of Conduct related to the ethics of science and technology issued by professional entities in the private and public sectors.
- Database 6: Resources in Ethics
The sixth database makes resources in ethics available online. It is designed to reinforce ethics teaching, especially in regions where such activities are absent or minimal. It is also the repository for study materials of the proposed UNESCO Bioethics Core Curriculum, which sets out to introduce the bioethical principles of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (2005) to university students.
* Disclaimer
UNESCO makes every effort to ensure, but does not guarantee, the accuracy of translated quotations from legislation and guidelines within the database. These translations should be considered as unofficial. For purposes of official or legal procedures, users should refer to the original version of the instrument.
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