The Research Software Alliance (ReSA), Research Data Alliance (RDA), and Latin American Network for Open Science (LA Referencia) are excited to announce a collaboration to raise awareness of research software and research data in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. LA Referencia will lead community dissemination and engagement activities, including a series of workshops dedicated to the region in 2025.
Open science is crucial for advancing scientific research and collaboration. Despite the significant progress, the LAC region still faces challenges in implementing these practices due to limited resources and varying levels of awareness and infrastructure. This project seeks to close these gaps by leveraging the expertise of ReSA and RDA and establishing a communication channel between regional stakeholders and the collaborating organisations. Workshops and engagement activities will facilitate knowledge exchange, build capacity, and promote best practices for managing and sharing research software and research data. These events will be open to the public and completely free of charge.
This project will further strengthen the ReSA, RDA, and LA Referencia communities by promoting international collaboration and addressing regional challenges. Building on a history of successful partnership, ReSA and RDA have previously worked together on several initiatives. The two organisations have co-led task forces and working groups, such as the Policies in Research Organisations for Research Software Working Group (PRO4RS) and the FAIR for Research Software (FAIR4RS) Working Group, in collaboration with FORCE11. In March 2023, ReSA and RDA co-hosted a joint hybrid meeting of the Research Software Funders Forum and the RDA Funders Forum in Sweden, continuing to encourage member engagement across both forums. In 2024, LA Referencia was instrumental in organising a 9-country tour across Latin America for RDA Secretary General Hilary Hanahoe, aimed at raising awareness of RDA’s mission and promoting the 23rd RDA Plenary Meeting in Costa Rica. Through this new collaboration, RDA, ReSA, and LA Referencia will not only deepen their existing partnerships but also explore new opportunities to support and advance the open science landscape.
The planned activities represent a step towards improving the landscape of open science in the LAC region. Together, RDA, ReSA, and LA Referencia will support global open science objectives by fostering a more transparent, inclusive, and accessible research ecosystem.
This article was first published on 26 February by RDA.
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