Unite! presents its strategic roadmap towards open science in the digital age

Unite! Alliance has presented the alliance's strategic roadmap for moving towards Open Science. The proposal includes a set of objectives and recommendations that universities and schools should promote, develop and transform into actions, redesigns and incentives, to advance the adoption of open science practices, principles and objectives in all the partner universities of the alliance.

This strategic roadmap is a guideline for university leaders and regional and national science and innovation policy makers that will ensure the openness of science in the research systems of Unite! universities. The objectives and recommendations encompass the international framework of policies and practices set by the UNESCO Recommendation on how to advance open science, adopted on 23 November 2021, and promote transparency, accessibility, legitimacy and the participation of researchers, students, staff, teachers, citizens and other professional groups in science.

The guide includes a total of 10 recommendations based on 5 main objectives, the achievement of which will make Unite! a European driver of open science and innovation: 

1. Develop open science policies and strategies
2. Enhance the openness of digital and physical infrastructures
3. Promote support services for open science
4. Foster open science in research careers
5. Enhance open science competences

This document builds on the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis for the adoption of Open Science practices in the seven universities of the Unite! alliance. The analysis was carried out during the Bootcamp "What is open in open science? which took place on 8-9 June 2021.

"The adoption of these open science practices, principles and goals in the digital era among Unite! research communities will improve the quality of academic and learning processes, dissemination and creation of new knowledge - comments Rubén Vicente-Sáez, coordinator of the document - It will also increase social trust in science, while more people will be encouraged to innovate and undertake and the research and innovation process will be accelerated to find solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations".

Download the document (UNITE! Open science and innovation strategic roadmap) (4.18 MB)