Thanks to the opportunities offered by the Internet et digital technology, open science enables more cumulative progress, backed by sharing of scientific content. This serves to accelerate innovation processes and develop new value-added services, the final aim being toenable societies in the global South to achieve the sustainable development goals.
After an initial plan in 2018, France has a second national open science plan (2021-2024), confirming French research's long-term commitment to the global movement.
The plan makes it compulsory to allow open access to publications and – as far as possible – to data generated by publicly-funded research. It supports major initiatives to structure the landscape surrounding publications and data, by dovetailing with the long-term European and global drive.
Since 2006, CIRAD has supported the principles of open access to knowledge. It has made an institutional commitment to step up the sharing of research results, expertise and training operations with its partners in the global South, in the fields of agriculture and sustainable development in tropical, subtropical and Mediterranean zones.
CIRAD's ambition is to manage and share research data and software in line with FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability). Within the open data-open source movement, such practices are key factors in an open science policy aiming for transparent, ethical, responsible research that satisfies the requirements of research donors.
The shift towards an open research data model raises several types of issues: scientific, geopartnership-related, societal and legal. CIRAD intends to tackle those challenges by means of an institutional policy of open science, to ensure ethical research that benefits its partners.
CIRAD shares the scientific knowledge generated by its research teams as widely as possible.
The CIRAD Sharing Knowledge in Sciences portal provides open access to various platforms for sharing publications and research data produced or co-produced by CIRAD and its partners: publications, scientific books and journals, datasets, digital heritage collections, photographs and teaching resources.
CIRAD runs or contributes to MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses).
These MOOCs are a lever for the transmission of knowledge and know-how resulting from the institution's research activities in partnership. These open and free online courses are accessible on the national FUN - France Université Numérique platform.
CIRAD is participating in the national European and international drive to develop open scientific infrastructures and resources, via the French network of collective research infrastructures. Those infrastructures were recognized by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation in a road map resulting from the national research infrastructures strategy.
Research infrastructures are local equipment, in situ observation or experimental instruments, biological resources centres and collections, digital exploration and database use tools, etc. They are open to the national, European and international scientific community. They may also supply services to communities that include the economic sector.
Research infrastructures are a pivotal element for achieving CIRAD's ambitions and in the dialogue between Europe and tropical and Mediterranean countries.
Pooling of resources by CIRAD and its partners gives the scientific community access to unique, top-level biological, scientific and technical resources. Those collective tools, resources and infrastructures are open to all our partners, within the framework of joint projects or training operations.
CIRAD is a coordinator of or contributor to several collective research infrastructures recognized by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research within the framework of the road map resulting from the national research infrastructures strategy.
