Open science is an approach to scientific research that promotes unrestricted access to research data, results, and software tools.
The Strategy contains four pillars, the first being digital infrastructures. Following the principles of open science, the Strategy states that all initiatives driven by the Strategy will be supported by platforms and technological resources developed with open source software. To reach this ambition, Spain will funnel more funding for these open science digital infrastructures. The required software development will be financed from the Strategy’s overall annual budget of €23.8 million.
This development of digital infrastructure will also be part of Spain’s integration into the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). EOSC is the EU initiative for creating an infrastructure for open science, giving researchers, businesses, and citizens access to research data. The initiative is considered the EU’s science and research data space. Spain’s integration should be completed by 2027.
Spanish legislation has long promoted open source usage in public administration, dating back to 2007. Although this is Spain’s first strategy specifically on open science, it will build on the 2020 multiannual science, technology, and innovation strategy which included mentions of open science. In 2022, this law was also updated to further take into account open science, promoting open infrastructures and platforms, open access, and open participation.
Spain is not alone in this pursuit. In 2023, Slovenia and Romania also unveiled their own open science strategies, following in the footsteps of countries like France, the Netherlands, and Finland.
(Photo by Louis Reed)