I definitely don’t think “sounds bad” (I really, really would like it to be easier for publishers to adopt dual-use screening best practices) but I do think “sounds partly duplicative of other work” (there are other groups looking into what publishers need / want, seems good to collaborate with them and use their prior work) and “should be done thoughtfully” (for example, should be done with someone who has a good appreciation for the fact that, right now, there does not exist a set of “dual use best practices” that an organization could simply adopt).
I’m going to gesture towards some related initiatives that might be of interest, from some folks who have already undertaken (at least some of the) “Let’s talk to the platforms, ask what they need, and give it to them” step:
The USA’s NSABB met in September with their main agenda items being on revisiting is currently working on revisiting its policies on managing and oversight of P3CO and DURC, so oversight frameworks are evolving (you can see some of the people involved based on the meeting agenda)
The Visibility Initiative for Responsible Science is shortly going to release a set of case studies on biological risk management across a large set of organizations (including iGEM, where I currently work) which should be helpful for identifying needs
I definitely don’t think “sounds bad” (I really, really would like it to be easier for publishers to adopt dual-use screening best practices) but I do think “sounds partly duplicative of other work” (there are other groups looking into what publishers need / want, seems good to collaborate with them and use their prior work) and “should be done thoughtfully” (for example, should be done with someone who has a good appreciation for the fact that, right now, there does not exist a set of “dual use best practices” that an organization could simply adopt).
I’m going to gesture towards some related initiatives that might be of interest, from some folks who have already undertaken (at least some of the) “Let’s talk to the platforms, ask what they need, and give it to them” step:
The USA’s NSABB met in September with their main agenda items being on revisiting is currently working on revisiting its policies on managing and oversight of P3CO and DURC, so oversight frameworks are evolving (you can see some of the people involved based on the meeting agenda)
The Visibility Initiative for Responsible Science is shortly going to release a set of case studies on biological risk management across a large set of organizations (including iGEM, where I currently work) which should be helpful for identifying needs
The Partnership on AI had a workstream on Publication Norms for Responsible AI that involved a lot of stakeholder engagement / interviewing
One of the NTI BIRRI working groups is on Standards for Funders, Grantees, and Publishers to Identify and Mitigate Biological Risks
Anyway, I feel like one way in which this project could go wrong is viewing itself as trying to lock in a new standard, rather than running an experiment in biosecurity governance that is part of the project of Consensus-finding on risks and benefits of research.