While we are still building out our new website and planning our next symposium, Open Technology Research (OTR) is entering one of its most important phases: shaping a shared research agenda that will guide our collective work over the next two years and beyond.
We want that agenda to reflect the real needs of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working at the intersection of open technology and the public interest. And that means we need to hear from you.
Why a Share Research Agenda Matters
Open technology – open source software, open standards, open data, open knowledge, open hardware, etc – is increasingly central to debates about digital sovereignty, democratic governance, and public sector modernisation across the globe. Yet, the research landscape remains fragmented. Global actors like public sector institutions, philanthropies, and development agencies alike commission case studies and impact assessments endlessly because of a dearth of evidence on what works and what doesn’t when using them at scale.
This is not to say that there is no good research or that evidence does not exist, simply that much of this research remains highly theoretical and important questions relevant for policy- and decision-makers – such as access to high-quality datasets, economic impact, and impacts of technology over time – remain under-investigated. More broadly, when we look at the existing landscape of open technology research, evidence remains fragmented, inconsistently collected towards diverse ends, and there are missed opportunities for multidisciplinary collaboration.
Some actors have begun to address this in recent years. We would be remiss not to acknowledge the important efforts of institutions like the Digital Infrastructure Insights Fund (DIIF) and the ESRC Digital Good Network to expand understanding of (open) technologies and their role in digital infrastructure and for social good. Moreover, emerging communities of practice such as the Digital Commons Policy Council (DCPC) and Open Research Community Accelerator (ORCA) are doing important work to raise the key questions that need answering across various domains of open.
The key for us is to unite these efforts around a common research agenda to drive forward the research agenda we want to see for the world.
Such an effort to build a truly shared and global research agenda could have important real-world consequences. If unsuccessful or left unaddressed, it could mean that important questions go unasked, that key needs are left under-researched, and that strong emergent collaborations never get off the ground or fail to find funding. Findings struggle to reach the people who could act on them, and organisations working in parallel too often duplicate effort rather than compound impact.
A shared research agenda is how we change that. By collectively identifying the most pressing gaps in knowledge – and the questions that, if answered, could most meaningfully shift policy and practice – we can mobilise research capacity in a more targeted and impactful way. We can connect funders, researchers, and practitioners around a common frame. And we can build the kind of credible, evidence-based response that policymakers increasingly need, but too rarely receive.
This is not a top-down exercise. The agenda will only be as strong as the breadth and honesty of the input behind it. That is why we are opening up the process before committing to any priorities, and using is as the foundation for our annual convening: the Open Technology Research Symposium.
Building on the OFA Symposium
OTR grows directly out of years of work through the Open Forum Academy (OFA) Symposium — an annual gathering of researchers and practitioners working on open technology policy questions. Through those symposia, a consistent picture has emerged: the field produces important ideas, but struggles to translate them into coordinated research programmes or lasting policy impact.
Feedback from the most recent event in Rio de Janeiro confirmed what many participants had long sensed: the work is too often theoretical, the audience too narrow, and the connection to near-term policy debates too loose. OTR was conceived as a response to precisely these gaps – a structure that can take the energy and expertise gathered through events like these symposia and channel it into something more durable and strategically impactful.
The research agenda we are developing now will form the foundation for the first Call for Proposals for the next Open Technology Research Symposium, which will invite proposals from researchers worldwide as part of our next two years of convenings, shaping the programme of the 2026 and 2027 Symposiums. Getting it right matters – and getting it right requires engaging the community that has built this field.
How the Process Works
Over the coming weeks, we will host three one-hour roundtable consultations, each held at a time designed to be accessible across different regions. The sessions will be structured around a short set of questions shared in advance, with facilitated discussion to draw out the most important insights.
The roundtables are intentionally focused and time-limited. We want to move quickly and produce something useful, not conduct an elaborate consultation that concludes long after the moment has passed. Our goal is to have a working research agenda ready to publish – alongside a Call for Proposals – by May 2026.
Roundtable Schedule
Asia Pacific
📅 19 March | 07:00-08:30 UTC (08:00-09:30 CET)
Europe and Africa
📅 19 March | 12:00-13:30 UTC (13:00-14:30 CET)
Americas
📅 19 March | 18:00-19:30 UTC (19:00-20:30 CET)
Sign-ups are open now. Each session is limited in size to 25 participants to ensure a genuine discussion, so we encourage you to register early. OTR reserves the right to curate the list of participants to help ensure a focused and meaningful discussion, so early sign-up does not necessarily guarantee a spot at one of the roundtables.
Before You Join: Complete the Intake Survey
To make the most of our time together, we are asking all participants – and anyone who cannot attend a roundtable but wants to contribute – to complete a short intake survey ahead of the sessions.
The survey is brief and focused. It asks about your background, your sense of the most important open questions in the field, and where you think current research falls short. Your responses will feed directly into how we frame the roundtable discussions and will be reflected in the draft agenda we develop afterwards.
You do not need to register for a roundtable to complete the survey. If you have views to share but cannot make any of the scheduled times, the survey is the best way to make sure your input is included. The deadline to add your inputs to the survey is 17 March.
Who Should Participate?
We are particularly interested in hearing from people who are:
- Conducting or commissioning research on open technology, digital public infrastructure, or related policy areas
- Working within or alongside policy institutions at the national or international level
- Building or deploying open source solutions in the public sector or civil society
- Representing communities whose needs and experiences are not yet well-reflected in existing research
We are actively seeking diverse participation across geographies, sectors, and career stages. If you know someone whose perspective should be in the room, please share this with them.
The Open Technology Research Network is a collaborative initiative between Open Knowledge Foundation, the Open Source Initiative, and OpenForum Europe. For questions about the consultation, please contact Nicholas Gates at nicholas@openforumeurope.org.
Originally published at the Open Technology Research Blog
