Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI) is delighted to welcome Arcadia as the latest contributor to the IOI Fund for Network Adoption. The Fund aims to accelerate the collective adoption, implementation, and expansion of open data and content infrastructures to foster collaborative research in Africa, Latin America, and North America.
With Arcadia's contribution, the Fund has now reached US$4.55 million in total commitments — 75% of our initial target. Arcadia joins other organizations like Wellcome, Digital Science, the Kahle Austin Foundation, and the Karger Publishers Foundation in the shared vision of strengthening the global open research ecosystem through the IOI Fund for Network Adoption.
“We are delighted to support the IOI Fund for Network Adoption as a Founding Contributor. Having worked with IOI for several years now, what has stood out in our engagements is their commitment to evidence-based and community-oriented solutions within the open research infrastructure landscape. We are certain that our support will help realize the goal of further entrenching the implementation, growth, and usability of open infrastructures for knowledge sharing, ” said Ross Mounce, Arcadia’s Director of Open Access Programmes.
“We are grateful for Arcadia’s ongoing support and commitment to furthering open access and knowledge sharing worldwide,” said Kaitlin Thaney, IOI’s Executive Director. The partnership with Arcadia is one that as an organization we truly value. Arcadia was the first philanthropy that believed in IOI’s mission and their support has been critical in our growth over the past five years. Their support and belief in the vision of the IOI Fund for Network Adoption will go a long way towards breaking some of the systemic barriers to open research globally and contribute to a much more resilient, sustainable and collaborative global research ecosystem.
As we approach our funding target, we continue to welcome additional investments from organizations committed to advancing open research infrastructure globally. Join us in reaching our goal by exploring contribution options below.
100+ pre-applications received for the IOI Fund
The Call for Proposals for the IOI Fund for Network Adoption closed in April 2025 with the final awardees expected to be announced towards the end of the year. We received over 100 pre-applications from research networks worldwide seeking support for adopting and scaling open infrastructure solutions.
Ten diverse projects have been selected to move forward to the full application stage, representing a remarkable breadth of critical infrastructure work across regions and research fields. These projects span essential areas including health research, climate and environmental monitoring, biodiversity preservation, and scholarly communications infrastructure. Notably, the selected projects include both continental-scale initiatives (such as Africa-wide repository networks and Latin America-wide infrastructure) and country-specific implementations, demonstrating how open infrastructure can operate effectively at multiple scales to facilitate local and regional collaborations in research.
The technical infrastructure being adopted and scaled is equally diverse, from repository platforms like InvenioRDM, DSpace, and Dataverse, to high-performance computing resources, federated query systems, and mobile media preservation tools. This variety demonstrates the versatility of open infrastructure in addressing different research and societal challenges while maintaining interoperability and FAIR data principles.
From these ten finalists, two to three teams will receive funding of between US$1-1.5 million to help implement and scale open infrastructure use and adoption. In addition to funding, awardees will receive in-kind strategic advisory from the IOI team in relation to governance and sustainability modeling, community engagement and outreach, and technical infrastructure integrations to help ensure the continuity and sustainability of the adoption/implementation beyond the project's duration.
Contribute to the Fund
The IOI Fund for Network Adoption represents a unique opportunity to directly accelerate open, collaborative, and equitable research worldwide. By contributing, your organization joins a select community of forward-thinking funders who are building the infrastructure that will define the future of global research.
With 75% of our target already committed, we're closer than ever to fully funding this transformative initiative. Your contribution, whether large or small, will have a measurable impact on research capacity in Africa, Latin America, and North America, supporting everything from life-saving health research to critical climate monitoring.
Ready to make an impact? Explore contribution levels and options below, or contact Emma Green, Director of Development, at contribute [at] investinopen [dot] org to discuss partnership opportunities.