UNESCO’s Open Solutions programme works to make knowledge, data, software and educational resources open to everyone, with the objective of closing the gap between those who take part in research, and those who are left out.
Doctors, teachers and policymakers could use research to save lives, improve public policy and support new ideas. But in many parts of the world, they still cannot access it, fees and paywalls keeping it out of reach.
This new initiative aims at building awareness, skills and policies for Open Solutions, using Diamond Open Access as the starting point. It is also planned to develop shared tools and standards, connecting Diamond Open Access with Open Data, Free and Open-Source Software, and Open Educational Resources.
Diamond Open Access charges no fees: researchers do not pay to publish, and readers do not pay to read. It is owned and run by people who create it, built on quality and integrity rather than profit. Together with the wider Open Solutions programme, it helps build a more open, connected and equitable knowledge ecosystem.
Knowledge should never be a privilege. Through Open Solutions, with support from the Gates Foundation, UNESCO helps researchers and institutions, especially in underserved countries, publish and share knowledge freely, in their own languages, and build the capacity to sustain open access.
Mariya GabrielAssistant Director General for Communication Information
This approach recognizes that knowledge does not exist in silos. Publications, data, software and educational resources are part of an interconnected ecosystem, and they become more valuable when they can be openly accessed, connected, adapted and reused.
UNESCO welcomes this grant from the Gates Foundation, as well as its expert engagement with this initiative, and invites other partners to extend it further to enable more researchers and institutions worldwide to read, share and use knowledge.
READ MORE: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/advancing-open-solutions-equitable-access-knowledge?hub=701
