Join us for a side-event to the UN Science, Technology and Innovation Forum on 3 May at 8:30am New York time (see what time this is for you), focusing on how libraries are helping ensure that Open Science is delivering on its potential to deliver sustainable development.

The UNESCO Open Science Recommendation of 2021 and the UN Open Science conference of 2023 have shown the way towards a much stronger alignment of the sustainable development and open science communities. Open science has the potential not just to be an accelerator of knowledge and innovation, but through this, of recovery, resilience, and inclusive sustainable development more broadly.

This is a convergence that is long-overdue – while the 2030 Agenda does refer to the importance of knowledge transfer and access to information more broadly, there is plenty still to do. Open science, done well, can not only accelerate innovation, but also better ensure inclusiveness and facilitate science-policy interfaces.

 However, it is also a convergence that is already taking place on the ground. This session will look at the work already underway among key nodes in the global information infrastructure – libraries – to make a realise the potential of open science as a development infrastructure.

Following an overview of key insights from the UN Open Science conference, leaders from the field in Asia-Oceania, Southern Africa, Brazil and Europe will firstly share snapshots of their own experiences in supporting – and overcoming related challenges related to – open science.

They will then take part in a discussion session exploring common themes, from the practical steps needed to ensure inclusion, to the types of investment needed, and what can be done to ensure an effective science-policy interface.

These same questions will then serve as a basis for seeking audience members’ views on how to strengthen the information infrastructure for development-focused open science.

3 May 2023, 8:30-9:45am (New York – see what time this is for you). Register here.

Speakers

Bianca Amaro, General Coordinator of Research, Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology

Fiona Bradley, Director, Research and Infrastructure (Library), University of New South Wales

Thanos Giannakopoulos, Chief, Information Management Section, Department of Global Communications, UN New York

Reggie Raju, Director, Research and Learning, University of Cape Town Libraries

Susan Reilly, Director, Irish Electronic Research Library