How do we sustainably maintain and further develop bioinformatics and computational biology (BCB) software, databases and tools, in the face of short <5 year periods of funding support? How do we promote open data and open science in a way that best effects positive change and avoids causing unwitting harm on communities? Using some historical data and also my recent research as examples, I’ll review how open science is evolving, building on FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) with also, for example, CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) as Principles for Indigenous Data Governance. I’ll review this and other principles in the context of both microbial data, as well as human cohort data, presenting some approaches to research that can support more sustainable, inclusive science that can potentially better lead to positive change. While there is no one size fits all solution, there are some common themes and considerations that we as a BCB community should discuss - and ideally incorporate into BCB training programs.