5th Open Science Practioners Forum

Tuesday 20 Jan 2026, 10:00 → 12:00 Europe/Zurich

10:00 → 10:10 Welcome and OSPF in 2026

Speaker: Clemens Lange (Paul Scherrer Institute (CH))

20260120_OSPF_WelcomeAndNews.pdf

10:10 → 10:20 CIO Office and Open Science Governance

Speaker: Alberto Di Meglio (CERN)

20251119 OCIO OSPF.pdf

 

• The CIO office was presented as a strategic coordination and governance function, focused on listening to communities, reducing fragmentation, aligning digital activities, and supporting departments without taking over execution.

• Its scope covers digital strategy, data governance, cybersecurity, risk and vendor management, and partnerships, with implementation remaining in departments.

• Open Science and Open Source are positioned within the digital strategy coordination layer, alongside AI and data strategy, while operational responsibility stays with existing structures.

• A two-tier governance model was proposed: a strategic steering level (including a new CIO-led coordination committee) and existing technical/execution bodies.

• The Open Science Steering Board will continue, with a change in chairing under the CIO, while forums such as OSPF, OSPO, and working groups remain at the technical coordination level.

• Discussion stressed that Open Science is broader than digital, including policy, education, outreach, and community engagement; the CIO framework was presented as a pragmatic first step to improve coordination while remaining flexible and community-driven.

• Engagement with the research sector and other CERN sectors was highlighted as essential, with ongoing consultation and use of existing forums to ensure feedback and alignment.

• Needs were identified for stronger data strategy coordination and possible adjustments to mandates and representation in existing Open Science and Open Source bodies.

 

10:20 → 10:30 News from the OS Office

Speaker: Anne Gentil-Beccot (CERN)

20260120-CERN OSPF OS Office news.pdf

20260120-CERN OSPF OS Office news.pptx

• The Open Science section remains within the Scientific Information Service, and has been renamed Open Science Operations, with a new section lead; the group’s day-to-day scope remains broadly unchanged, but it now sits within the OSI department.

• The mission of Open Science Operations is to run the Open Science Office and support researchers/experiments in open-science practices (notably open access publishing and data management), while also supporting governance and coordinating implementation of the Open Science strategy in close coordination with the Head of Open Science and the CIO office.

• The section continues to coordinate/operate key projects and services including SCOAP3 and INSPIRE, and is preparing for Open Research Europe (ORE) as a major upcoming project.

• 2026 objectives highlighted: support governance and strategy implementation; support key groups and topics (e.g. open data working group and other open-science-related bodies); develop monitoring of activities; and strengthen community engagement (communication plan, Open Science website updates, and identifying needs for a community engagement strategy).

• Open access work in 2026 includes revising publisher agreements and reflecting on overall open access strategy; in parallel, preparation begins for the future of SCOAP3 beyond its current phase.

• A key deliverable is structured support for data management and reuse (guidelines, materials, training), including establishing data stewardship capacity.

• Open Research Europe: presented as a multidisciplinary open access platform with transparent peer review; from 2026 it becomes a collectively funded European initiative, and CERN will become host and operator from Q4 2026, with operations run by SIS and IT; editorial services will be outsourced.

• Discussion clarified that ORE will be available to collaborations when eligibility criteria are met (at least one author affiliated with a funding country), and it is intended as an additional publication outlet, not a replacement for existing open-access journal routes.

 

10:30 → 11:30 ICFA data lifecycle panel recommendations as a framework for assessment

Speaker: Kati Lassila-Perini (Helsinki Institute of Physics (FI))

ICFA data lifecycle panel recommendations Web app

ICFARecommendationsAssessment_KLP_20Jan26.pdf

 

• The ICFA Data Lifecycle Panel presented its open science / FAIR data lifecycle recommendations, available via a web application (and an accompanying note), aimed at improving long-term usability of HEP data, not only preservation.

• A key challenge highlighted is preserving analysis knowledge (software, workflows, and contextual documentation) so data remain reusable on very long timescales; the researcher is central, but success depends on institutions, collaborations, and host laboratories providing enabling conditions.

• The recommendations were designed to be role-specific, actionable, and concrete, with tailored guidance for different “actor groups,” plus executive summaries and a glossary to support uptake.

• Main messages emphasized: treating analysis software and workflow descriptions as integral research outputs; ensuring supplementary knowledge needed for reuse; strengthening software skills among researchers; and ensuring policies/resources exist to enable these practices.

• The panel’s next step is an assessment process to determine “how we are doing,” starting with host laboratories and experiment management (and later, via appropriate channels, funders), because many actions require management-level decisions and resourcing.

• The assessment approach assigns a status per recommendation (e.g., applied/partially applied/planned/considered/not applicable) and requires verifiable evidence such as links to relevant documentation; planned items should include timelines, and “not applicable” requires justification.

• A separate verification step was proposed to ensure cited documentation is genuinely findable and accessible to the intended audience (even when internal), potentially involving community members or broader participation.

• A dedicated assessment mode is being integrated into the recommendations web app, supporting team-based work, credentialed access, intermediate saving, and persistent storage; regular reassessments (roughly every 1–2 years) were proposed, with the first round serving as a baseline for future progress comparisons.

• Indicative timeline discussed: identify contacts by mid-February, form assessment teams by around April, run assessments April–September, and report towards year-end, contingent on engagement and collaboration.

• Coordination points were noted with CERN open science and data governance structures, including support to connect with relevant contacts and align with data governance topics (e.g., preservation/retention).

• Open data policies are public (discoverable via the CERN Open Data Portal), while other working-practice documents may be internal; the assessment aims to collect/internal-reference such evidence without necessarily making it public.

• Call for testers: Under the link provided everyone can switch on the "Assessment Mode" and try to input to test the feel of the assessment tool (if choosing, "local" as user, no password is required and inputs don't go to the database).

 

11:30 → 11:45 Topic suggestions for 2026

Please contact the Open Science Office for any ideas on what to discuss in upcoming OSPF meetings.

 

• OSPF aims to become a more active forum in 2026 and is soliciting topics and member input for the programme.

• A workshop on workflow language is already planned for February 2026.

• Members were invited to submit additional topic suggestions now or by email to the Open Science Office.

• Open hardware (including citizen science links) is explicitly within the remit of the Open Science policy and suggested as a topic area.

• Specific potential focus areas mentioned: open hardware for quantum technologies (qubit control, related instrumentation) and specialised AI hardware / tensor units — areas where CERN has relevant expertise and potential community impact.

• Suggestion to run a dedicated CERN meeting to map current open-hardware activities and opportunities (call for input to gather contributions)

 

11:45 → 12:00 Any other business