Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI) is excited to announce that the Karger Publishers Foundation is the newest Founding Contributor of the IOI Fund for Network Adoption. The Karger Publishers Foundation's support for the Fund represents a shared vision of creating a more resilient and sustainable research landscape globally.
The IOI Fund for Network Adoption is a US$6-8M funding initiative that supports the shared adoption, implementation, and expansion of open data infrastructure to foster collaborative research, focusing on Africa, North America, and Latin America. The Call for Proposals for the IOI Fund for Network Application is currently open until April 30, 2025.
“One of the things that we are passionate about as a Foundation is supporting initiatives that explore new approaches to research and its infrastructures as a means of democratizing information and reducing inequalities in research. Our world today has many complex global challenges and we need as many people as possible equipped with the tools and information needed to help solve them. We believe that the IOI Fund for Network Adoption is an innovative funding mechanism that helps remedy some of the funding challenges researchers face. The Fund will help center the needs of communities that either have been marginalized or face complex systemic barriers that limit their access to research data, ” remarked Gabriella, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, Karger Publishers Foundation.
The addition of the Karger Publishers Foundation strengthens an already diverse team of organisations and funders supporting the Fund, which includes Wellcome, Digital Science, and the Kahle Austin Foundation. This funder diversity is due to IOI’s intentional work over the years to develop strong relationships globally with research networks, libraries, consortia, philanthropies, government funders and other stakeholders within the scholarly ecosystem. We believe that for us to develop impactful and sustainable research-based solutions to the complex challenges we face, we need to co-created with a range of value-aligned stakeholders to ensure responsiveness to the emergent needs of the communities we serve.
“We are delighted to welcome Karger Publisher Foundation to the Founding Contributors of the IOI Fund for Network Adoption. Through the Fund, we aim to support critical infrastructure necessary for discovery of research-based solutions to emergent global challenges, including health. The Karger Publishers Foundation, with their extensive history of supporting scientists, librarians and other actors in the science communication ecosystem, aligns deeply with our vision,” commented Kaitlin Thaney, Executive Director of IOI.
From our targeted engagements with research communities across the world, it is clear that the systemic nature of some of the research challenges globally requires a multi-stakeholder approach to creating sustainable and resilient solutions. We welcome interested organizations from the research, publishing, and public infrastructure sectors to contribute to the Fund to accelerate open, collaborative, and equitable research. Contributors demonstrate their commitment and dedication to supporting equitable access to and participation in research.
Join our community of funders, research networks, and open infrastructures to accelerate the development and adoption of essential, community-driven research infrastructure. For more information, please contact Emma Green, IOI’s Director of Development, at emma@investinopen.org.