This post is part of a series in which we share more about what we’re working on and what we’re learning. Read our last update.

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:

  • Thank you to everyone who provided input to the “Defining Open Scholarly Infrastructure” draft report – we have now closed the open comment period. We will be reading and addressing your comments and will publish the final report early June. We’re also reviewing our public comment process to help make it more inclusive in the various stages of the work so we can incorporate more feedback earlier in the scoping process. We look forward to iterating towards a more participatory process.
  • We are scoping and conducting new preliminary investigations on topics including training for open infrastructure and tools and community governance. Watch this space for more about these investigations in the next few weeks!
  • We are finalizing a first version of the documentation for the Catalog of Open Infrastructure (COIs) and preparing the next phase of work. More about our plans for COIs and how you can participate next week!
  • We welcome Samuel Moore to the team! Sam will be building on his previous work on governance and community-led models in scholarly communication to help enrich our work in this critical area. His contribution will improve our understanding as we work to identify key frameworks for good governance in open infrastructure.
  • Our Community Oversight Council hosted its first community discussion with Afua Bruce and Amy Sample Ward, the authors of The Tech That Comes Next. Thank you to everyone who participated in the discussion - we will publish the recording and a short summary next week, here on our blog.
  • With our Governance and Nominating Committee, we are scoping out the work to strengthen our governance processes and establish our Financial Oversight Group.
  • We are exploring and setting up communication tooling and processes, including tools for social media scheduling and customer relationship management. The aim is to make our communication efforts more efficient and scalable, as well as to improve our data practices.
  • We have updated our privacy policy to better reflect how we collect, process, and store data. We will continue to work with ZwillGen to look at how we can be more ethical, transparent, and accountable in the ways we handle data.
Various tools, including a hammer, pilers, hex keys, screwdrivers and more, on a wooden surface.
Photo by picjumbo_com on Pixabay.

Who we are talking to:

  • Chris Hartgerink, Liberate Science, to share an overview and update on IOI’s work as part of the Open Update podcast.
  • Cameron Neylon, Curtin Open Knowledge Initiative (COKI), to explore opportunities for collaboration on building out and expanding our own data infrastructure.
  • Carly Strasser, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, to explore shared needs for sustainability planning and funding of open source to support science and research.
  • Following up with the Sovereign Tech Fund team and other funders in the open infrastructure space. This follows a convening of open-source infrastructure funders where we discussed collective action towards sustainable funding for critical open digital infrastructure.
  • Jean-Francois Lutz and Marin Dacos, the French National Fund for Open Science and SCOSS Board, to further understand funders’ and budget holders’ needs when making decisions to invest in open research infrastructure.
  • Jessica Meyerson, Educopia Institute, to learn from their experience managing research and strategy at a non-profit organization. They also shared models of engagement and empowerment from their extensive experience building and sustaining collaborative communities dedicated to creating, sharing, and preserving knowledge.
  • Anne Lee Steele and Malvika Sharan, the Turing Way, to understand each others’ work and our roles in open research and scholarship, and to learn from their experience researching and participating in the broader open and responsible tech space.

What we are reading/exploring:

A list of highlights below — for a more comprehensive view, please check out the Open Infrastructure Tracking Project!

Upcoming events/talks:

We will be running two Q&A sessions on the next phase of the Catalog of Open Infrastructure Services (COIs), on 17 May 2022 - please register using the links below. We will share more details about these sessions and plans next Monday.

Posted by Emmy Tsang