SPARC Europe helps strengthen the foundations of Open Science by supporting the sustainability of the infrastructures that make it possible. Through SCOSS—the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services—we work with the international community to secure mid to longer-term funding for essential, non-commercial services that underpin Open Science. By co-ordinating global pledging campaigns and rallying libraries, funders, and institutions, SCOSS helps to ensure these services can continue serving the research community for years to come.
The Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS)
SPARC Europe co-ordinates this global effort established in 2017.
SCOSS helps secure sustainable funding for SCOSS-endorsed non-commercial, open science infrastructures; raising over 7M euros to date. SCOSS also supports the SCOSS Family Community of Practice—now 19 infrastructures strong—strengthening their financial and organizational sustainability.
Partners and resources
Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI)
SPARC Europe served on the Steering Group of IOI for several years.
We stay connected to bring the interests of Europe to the global strategic approach to funding OA/OS infrastructure.
10 key interviews with OS infrastructure on their journeys to sustainability
These 10 interviews highlight some of the key decision-making points, funding mechanisms and models, and other learnings from a series of commonly used services and technologies used to support research and scholarship. These include both for-profit and not-for-profit services, highlighting perspectives on sustainability across the sector.
Skim the top-level lessons here.
2020 survey to Scope the Open Science Infrastructure Landscape in Europe
In Spring 2020 we launched a survey to Scope the Open Science Infrastructure Landscape in Europe to gain a better understanding of existing OA and OS infrastructure/resources in Europe so that these services have a greater chance of garnering the funding support they may need in future.
We published the culminating report in late 2020. It shows a diverse, interconnected, open, professional and viable, developing OS ecosystem in Europe; one that is worth investing in. At the same time, this developing ecosystem faces a range of issues that challenge its path to a more open and sustainable future.
View the OSI survey instrument, and Read the report. Skim the top-level report results in a related one-pager here.
The interviews and survey work was supported by the Open Society Foundations, and was in collaboration with Invest in Open Infrastructure.
