Community endorsed digital standards are critical for effective machine-to-machine interoperability of Earth and environmental data and beyond. They are fundamental to the sustainability of a flourishing Global Open Science Data Commons.

Governance and sustainability of content standards specific to individual science domains (eg, terminologies, ontologies, metadata elements) is not clear. Various protocols are developed at the project/community/national level, and labeled as ‘standards’, but few have been developed by endorsed organisations and published in accordance with established procedures

To create a Global Open Science Commons, International Standards are crucial and be used in multiple nations with the development process is open to representatives from all countries. However participation by the Global South is not easy: there are growing concerns that standards development is now in the hands of those that can afford travel to workshops and conferences, mostly in the Global North. Language is also a barrier, as many standards are developed in English.

Addressing the issues will take time, including who is going to drive and fund the need for a greater global scientific inclusive culture that transcends location, costs, language, etc to create and sustain international digital standards required to underpin a Global Open Science Commons