As SCOSS’s 3-year cycle closes for arXiv, DSpace, and Redalyc in December 2024, we are reminded that supporting non-commercial, open infrastructure is a long-term commitment.
Through generous contributions, these infrastructures have been able to strengthen their foundations and move toward long-term sustainability. They have been able to complete necessary operational projects that traditional funders do not support, such as hiring much-needed staff, modernising legacy code, and creating documentation. Also, through SCOSS affiliation, they were introduced to new funding partners and a collaborating network of open infrastructures.
What was accomplished:
Staffing up and Upgrading Legacy Code
arXiv: the open platform to share and discover emerging science.
Work Accomplished: Receiving 55% of their target request (over 388,000 Euro in pledges), arXiv hired key staff, including a community engagement manager, software developers, a project manager and a documentation specialist. In addition, as one of the oldest open infrastructures in the OA movement, they had a lot of fragile legacy code that needed modernising. Thanks to funding, they were also able to upgrade and stabilise their codebase.
Program Coordination and Community Support
DSpace: the global software of choice for open digital repositories.
Work Accomplished: With 30% of pledging (198,000 Euro), DSpace was able to create training materials, hold webinars and to hire a part-time DSpace Program Coordinator to engage in community engagement activities such as promoting professional conferences, collaboration and connection between DSpace users and members – with the goal of fostering continuous growth of the DSpace ecosystem. Unfortunately, due to insufficient funding, they were unable to hire the program coordinator full-time or a junior developer, which led to delays in software releases, the creation of user documentation, and the ability to engage in essential strategic planning to develop a new technical roadmap.
A Focus on Hardware
Redalyc: a leader in Diamond OA in Latin America.
Work Accomplished: With only 23% of their target pledged (270,914 Euro), they have prioritised the purchase of much-needed hardware to increase computing capability to achieve more efficient throughput for the services they provide for end users and journals.
As arXiv, DSpace, and Redalyc near the end of their SCOSS 3-cycle, they are moving forward on more stable footing, thanks to the community’s support. However, a funding gap remains. Please consider making a one-time contribution or a multi-year pledge to ensure these essential infrastructures continue to thrive.
Learn more about infrastructure.
