Skip to main content
About
Why innovation at OpenAIRE

Scholarly communication is at a crossroads. Open infrastructures, research intelligence, AI, and global connectivity are reshaping how knowledge flows. OpenAIRE is where these forces meet.

The why

Five reasons innovation belongs here

OpenAIRE is not just a data provider. We are an open infrastructure at the intersection of research, policy, and technology, with the assets, the network, and the mandate to drive innovation that serves everyone.

A crossroads in scholarly communication

The way research is produced, shared, and reused is changing fundamentally. AI, open access mandates, and data-driven R&D are creating new demands and new opportunities. The infrastructure that supports this transition needs to innovate, not just maintain.

Open infrastructure for all

OpenAIRE builds and operates open infrastructure that serves researchers, institutions, funders, and governments. Everything we create is open by design. That same infrastructure is now ready for industry and civic innovators to build on.

Research intelligence is open

The OpenAIRE Graph, indicators, and analytics represent one of the richest open research intelligence assets in the world. We need collaborators to put it to work: in AI training, foresight, decision support, and new services that do not yet exist.

Science is connected, tools should be too

Research does not happen in silos, but too many tools and services still operate that way. We need innovation that makes services interoperate, that links data across domains, and that builds the connective tissue between platforms, repositories, and workflows.

European infrastructure, global footprint

OpenAIRE has built a network of national open access desks, institutional partners, and policy contacts across Europe and beyond. When you work with us, you do not just access data. You access a community that spans continents and can adopt, test, and scale what you build.

At the table where it matters

OpenAIRE is actively involved in EOSC, the RAISE initiative, the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information, UNESCO Open Science, and the Research Data Alliance. Innovation here feeds directly into the frameworks and policies shaping the future of research.

The what

Use our assets, or co-create new ones

OpenAIRE provides a complete ecosystem of data, services, and expertise. We work with innovators from research, public infrastructures, industry, and civil society to turn open science into impact.

Build on what exists

Integrate the OpenAIRE Graph, indicators, services, and infrastructure components into your own products and workflows. Proven, documented, and ready to use.

Co-create what comes next

Work with our teams to develop new indicators, tools, services, or training activities. Bring your domain expertise and we bring the data, infrastructure, and community.

Our principles

How we collaborate

Every collaboration at OpenAIRE is grounded in a clear set of principles. These are non-negotiable.

✓ Openness by default

✓ Transparency and accountability

✓ Commitment to our members and the commons

✓ Respecting existing business models

✓ Exploring new business models together

✓ Reciprocity and mutual benefit

✓ Legal and ethical alignment

✓ FAIR and responsible data practices

✓ Interoperability and open standards

✓ Knowledge sharing and capacity building

Read our principles

Governance and bodies

Transparent, accountable, values-driven

Programme Steering Committee

Guides strategic direction, reviews partnerships and ensures ethical and legal alignment across all innovation tracks.

Members: OpenAIRE management, service leads, legal and policy experts, selected industry representatives.
Operational Team

Coordinates day-to-day activities, manages agreements, ensures FAIR and GDPR compliance and runs the partnership intake process.

Led by the OpenAIRE Innovation Officer.
Advisory Group

Provides external perspective and accountability. Includes representatives from academia, funders and civil society.

Composition designed for diversity and independence.
Legal and Ethics Board

Oversees compliance with EU legal frameworks (AI Act, DSM Directive, Data Governance Act, GDPR) and ethical standards.

Independent experts with legal, ethical and policy expertise.
Visit OpenAIRE Governance

Let's build something together

OpenAIRE is looking for partners, collaborators, and innovators. Tell us what you are working on.

Get in Touch
Browse Open Calls