Defining open infrastructure in different contexts, 26 Aug 2022 | Turing Way Fireside Chat series

"For researchers, particularly those working in computational environments, the term “open infrastructure” has emerged to describe the tools and services needed to enable them: from IT systems to funding bodies, research data management protocols to open source software, just to name a few. As these systems have found their home in academic institutions, roles have emerged alongside them to enable innovation and maintenance: roles such as data stewards, research software engineers, and research application managers. With this being said, these socio-technical definitions of infrastructure extend beyond the research community to our broader societies at large: from digital identification to internet connectivity more broadly. This fireside chat brings together different perspectives on ‘open infrastructure’ within and around research environments in order to ask the question: what is open infrastructure anyway, for researchers and otherwise? How do these narratives and definitions of open infrastructure affect what kind of work is valued within them? Chaired by Rayya El Zein (Code for Science & Society) and Anne Lee Steele (The Turing Way), this panel will feature insights from Richard Dunks (Invest in Open Infrastructure), Lillian Achom (Access Plus) and Sarah Gibson (2i2c)...."