This post is part of a series where we share more about what we’re working on and what we’re learning. Read our last update.
We’ll be iterating on this format in the next months. Have a question or comment about anything you see here? Get in touch! We’d love to hear from you.
On to the update …
What we are working on:
- We concluded IOI’s Strategy Retreat. In the last two weeks, we learnt from experts Pia Mancini (opencollective.com), Joy Owango (tcc-africa.org and AfricArXiv), and Elizabeth Searing (University of Texas) about investment and non-profit assessment. We discussed various models of resourcing and outlined a roadmap for the next months with IOI’s Steering Committee and Community Oversight Council. We hope to share resources and learnings from the Retreat with the public in the coming months - stay tuned!
- We welcomed IOI’s new Steering Committee. This Committee brings new ideas, strategies, and learnings to the work of IOI from adjacent communities and areas of infrastructure. We would like to thank IOI’s inaugural founding members, who have supported and guided us as we evolve our governance.
- We met with our Community Oversight Council. We reflected on the retreat and discussed questions to clarify the scope, objectives, and ways of working of the Council. This forms solid foundations for our work to draft a charter and documentation.
- We ran a Financial Strategy session as part of the Digital Infrastructure Incubator. The Digital Infrastructure Incubator at Code for Science & Society is supporting open source project leaders implementing best practices in sustainability, governance, and community health. Our Executive Director Kaitlin Thaney spoke with the cohort on strategies for financial planning and strategy, and discussed how to approach building resourcing for your project.
- We welcomed Sue, Executive Assistant to Kaitlin, to the team! She will be supporting our operations work, including liaising with the Steering Committee and other partners.
Who we are talking to:
- Sarah Nusser and Tom Arrison, the Chair and Director of the National Academies Board on Research Data and Information, to share updates on our work and discuss opportunities to collaborate on furthering open infrastructure for research and scholarship.
- Juan Pablo Alperin, Co-Director of ScholCommLab, to follow up on our research on underlying costs associated with maintaining and developing open infrastructure services.
- Gina Giampaolo, a designer and front-end web developer, to explore working together on IOI’s first annual report.
What we are reading:
- Nadia Eghbal's Understanding science funding in tech, 2011-2021, March 2022.
- Building Blocks for Funding Digital Infrastructure from simplysecure.org, 2022.
- Sovereign Tech Fund's Feasibility Study to Examine a Funding Program for Open Digital Base Technologies as the Foundation for Innovation and Digital Sovereignty, October 2021.
Upcoming events/talks:
We look forward to meeting you if you are attending the following events!
- Research Libraries UK Conference, March 14-16: Kaitlin will be delivering a keynote.
- Couperin Open Science Working Group meeting, March 22: Emmy Tsang, IOI’s Engagement Lead, will be delivering a presentation.
- Council of Australian Librarians Open Session, March 23 (ET) / March 24 (AEDT): Kaitlin will be participating in a panel discussion on “Perspectives on transitioning to a fully open environment”.