Imagining a world without open infrastructures
Imagine a world where thousands of peer-reviewed journals, books, datasets, and other research output are no longer available online, a world without persistent identifiers, registries, and standards for data exchange, where technical development priorities are not in alignment with community values, and where the creation of standards is not community-driven. This is a world without open infrastructures.
Despite providing essential support for Open Science and serving the public good, open infrastructures face challenges that make long-term planning and development uncertain, even day-to-day operations in some cases. There is a way forward, which involves a shift in priorities and practices with regard to open infrastructure.
Working closely with various global open infrastructures, the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS) has a unique perspective. SCOSS evaluates open infrastructures that require funding and recommends them to potential supporters. In a new blogpost, SCOSS offers four practical steps that all stakeholders can take to address the challenges that open infrastructures face:
- Reach out collectively to increase the visibility of open infrastructure as an ecosystem
- Adapt current systems for funding and create new ones
- Collaborate with existing open infrastructure networks
- Rethink what we fund and why we fund it
Read the blogpost here.