R= InfraCoalition: A coalition to transform an alternative platform into infrastructure

Abstract:  This module contains our pre-proposal for the OpenScienceNL Infrastructure Call. Current research infrastructures in the Netherlands for sharing and publishing are fragmented and often provided by external service providers. We propose a four-year, €1.5 million project to transform an existing, alternative publishing platform into readily deployable open infrastructure for research institutions of any size. In transforming an alternative publishing platform into deployable and sovereign infrastructure, we work towards one seamless, low-cost research environment for discovering, storing, publishing, and evaluating research outputs. Beyond transforming this alternative platform into alternative infrastructure, we extend it to be interoperable between institutions and with the wider social web. Each coalition partner works within their local institution to progressively adapt and enhance this alternative infrastructure to the institution’s needs and the needs of its researchers. We transform and extend the alternative open-source publishing platform ResearchEquals. The foundational work (months 1-6) is to recruit staff and build trust within the coalition. The technical implementation happens in two sequential stages: Transformation (months 6-12) and extension (months 12-36). Parallel to the technical implementation, we “scale small” by working with local communities to deploy and adopt the infrastructure (months 6-48). During the entire project (months 0-48), the coalition will meet fortnightly to brainstorm activities, provide updates on local progress, and coordinate efforts to progressively adapt the infrastructure. When successful, this project builds readily reusable, open-source infrastructure run by institutions themselves.