Institute of Open Science Practices
Advancing Infrastructure for Open Science
We connect researchers and technologists working on critical open science infrastructure. By coordinating collaborations, serving as first users, and sharing what we learn, we advance the technologies that enable open-by-default scientific practice.
Build the infrastructure that makes open easy to practice
What is IOSP?
An Event. A Community. A Unifying Institute.
IOSP facilitates the advancement of critical technologies and infrastructures that enable open-by-default science.
We host annual events and facilitate a living community—convening a community of researchers and technologists who use, support, and socialize novel infrastructure. We build our events using the tools we advance from the research submission infrastructure to our note taking tools.
Innovative infrastructure is emerging across the open science ecosystem—often independently, with parallel efforts unaware of one another. IOSP provides the platform where emerging technologies showcase their progress, where working groups discover complementary efforts, and where researchers connect with the tools they need.
Science Should Be
How IOSP Works
IOSP is a continuous, year-long operation. Annual events are checkpoints where we identify challenges and test solutions built by the open community throughout the year.
Identify
Through direct connections, workshops, and continuous engagement with the open science community, we identify critical gaps in infrastructure and the people and tools working to fill them.
Converge
At our annual event, we bring together the identified players—researchers, technologists, and infrastructure builders—to showcase progress, define priorities, and align efforts around shared challenges.
Support
Year-round, we provide resources, facilitate connections, and help working groups advance their solutions—turning event momentum into lasting infrastructure.
Repeat
Every event identifies bottlenecks and next steps. Every collaboration produces working code. Every year turns the key a little further.
A thousand coordinated people, collaborating on small, achievable outputs, can raise cities.
It's Time to Build
The modern implementation of the scientific protocols were designed in a pre-digital era.
| Protocol | 1665-1876 Organized | 1876-1950 Professional | 1950-Present Institutional | Building Now Digital-Native |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Inference Generate, analyze, experiment | Hand calculations Lab notebooks | Institutionalized labs Standardized methods | Unreproducible local computations Personal digital notebooks | Executable narratives Reproducible containers Live computational environments |
Quality Verify, replicate, trust | Witnessed demos Society meetings | University seminars Laboratory replication | Manuscript peer review Citation databases Impact factors | Computational verification Trust attestation |
Engagement Connect, share, discover | Letters & libraries Society proceedings | Academic journals University presses | Journal consolidation Digital subscriptions | Object graphs Curation over open research Open by default |
Coordination Credit, fund, collaborate | Private patronage Named discoveries | University positions Institutional funding | Grant funding Tenure system h-index & citations | Contribution graphs Micro-attribution Community-specific metrics |
Preservation Store, access, archive | Physical archives Manual copying | Library systems Catalog standards | DOI system Siloed repositories Lossy digital archives | Content addressing Distributed data hosting Redundant archives |
Infrastructure Emerging Across the Ecosystem
Independent teams across the ecosystem are building components critical to a new, open technical substrate for science. IOSP convenes the community and provides the coordination infrastructure that enables them to connect, collaborate, and build integrated solutions together.
Storage & Preservation
Persistent, FAIR-compliant storage with content addressing (CIDs) • distributed archives • automated metadata • long-term preservation protocols.
Compute & Execution
Reproducible computational environments • container specs • execution manifests • distributed compute coordination • data visitation.
Validation & Trust
Automated testing • continuous replication • cryptographic proofs of correctness • provenance tracking • trust scoring • attestation models • open algorithms.
Knowledge Graphs & Semantics
Semantic registries • knowledge graphs • composable research objects • cross-platform data schemas.
Discovery & Communication
Federated search • semantic discovery • publishing APIs • event streams • collaborative review platforms • micropublishing.
Attribution & Credit
Contribution graphs • portable reputation • micro-attribution • transparent governance records.
Identity & Authentication
Decentralized identifiers (DIDs) • key management • authentication protocols • agent registries.
Funding Innovation
Alternative funding models • retroactive public goods • quadratic funding • granular funding.
Collaboration Infrastructure
Real-time coordination • federated workflows • cross-institutional projects • team science tools • shared workspaces.
IOSP 2026
Q3/Q4 2026 • Co-located outside the US • Always free
Building on the momentum from IOSP 2025, we continue the cycle—identifying bottlenecks, coordinating solutions, and advancing the infrastructure that makes open science practical.
Let's Build IOSP 2026
We're exploring these themes—reach out if you're building, working, or interested in supporting in one of these areas.
Access mechanisms, identity management, automated metadata
Cross-scale communication, reducing information loss
Knowledge graphs, modular collaborative systems
Research cooperatives, FROs, novel legal structures
Alternative funding models, mechanisms for rewarding research
Showcase Your Work
Working groups, technologists, infrastructure providers, researchers, and labs—get in touch so we can showcase your progress and tools at IOSP 2026.
IOSP 2025: Building Infrastructure in Practice
February 23-25, 2025 • Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Our inaugural event highlighted the scientific community's appetite for infrastructure that makes open science easy to practice—connecting researchers, technologists, and infrastructure builders to stress-test emerging tools in real-world settings.
60-capacity venue • At capacity for both days
Event Format
Infrastructure Stack
In Their Own Words
What participants gained from IOSP 2025
It felt like we started a movement! This [event] incorporated stakeholders and put us in a better position to build the next system for science and publishing that deliberately incorporates their needs and our values.
— Matthew Akamatsu, UW Discourse Graphs
IOSP 2025: The Complete Picture
Nearly every single respondent said they would attend the next IOSP
"I would pay to attend this event. $100 minimum."
To a colleague in their field
Want to continue work started in the workshops
Movement Building
From "potential energy" to active stakeholder engagement—participants felt they were part of starting something transformative.
"It felt like we started a movement!"
Want to participate in planning IOSP 2026
Cited facilitated networking as a core value
"Great discussions and valuable connections that would be really hard to have in traditional academic conferences."
Are interested in facilitating sessions at future events
The overwhelming standout—participants consistently highlighted the quality of facilitated connections and networking opportunities as a core value. The round tables and informal conversations enabled relationships that continue months after the event.
"Contact with developers and representatives of OS projects. A lot of learning about the tools, projects developed and under development. Possibility to participate in new initiatives. Debates about challenges and the future."
Collaborations That Couldn't Happen Elsewhere
Breakthrough conversations that participants "kept meaning to have over email/zoom" but needed the in-person format to materialize.
"Put us in a better position to build the next system for science and publishing that deliberately incorporates [stakeholder] needs and our values."
Frequently praised for the high-caliber speaker lineup and presentation quality across diverse topics
"Expert opinion across a range of relevant topics including especially the challenges research libraries face when sharing data and very useful guidelines to keep in mind when rolling out new research technologies."
The event format struck the right balance between structured content and hands-on collaboration. Workshops enabled direct engagement between researchers and builders, while Q&A panels facilitated deeper discussion. The schedule and pacing allowed for dense information sharing while maintaining engagement.
"The schedule and format allowed for there to be such a dense amount of information to be shared. Amazed by this. Series of medium length talks followed by shared Q/A was great."
Technology Exposure & Adoption
Researchers discovered novel infrastructure they weren't previously aware of, learning both high-level concepts and technical implementation details.
"I was exposed to novel technologically based efforts to support open science needs that I was not previously aware of."
"I gained exposure to future technologies, [while] meeting people who want to change the world of science."
What Participants Want to Explore Next
Topics that emerged from participant feedback for future IOSP events
Models for scaling open science infrastructure
Bridging with the Global South
Community-owned governance models
Driving change in scientific practice
Petabyte-scale decentralized storage
Nanopublications & discourse graphs