UNESCO’s new Open Science Platform uses CERN-backed software to track open science policies and translate complex climate data for global policymakers.
Released as Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) at UN Open Source Week 2026, 22–26 June in New York, UNESCO’s OSS platform was developed with the UN International Computing Centre (UNICC) using a customised implementation of CERN’s InvenioRDM repository framework. The initiative is headed by Shaofeng Hu, Director of the Division of Ethics, Research and Technology within UNESCO’s Sciences Sector, who stated the platform makes knowledge highly discoverable and useful for evidence-based decision-making.
Initially, the repository centralises scientific publications, programmes, awards, and fellowships from UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Family, with future plans to integrate raw research datasets. It features interactive dashboards tracking how Member States implement open science architectures across infrastructure, policy, capacity building, and financial incentives. Early qualitative-quantitative data reveals that approximately 75% of responding Member States have established some tier of open science infrastructure nationally or institutionally.
“By bringing UNESCO-related scientific publications and other research outputs together with data on global open science progress, including the finding that around 75% of responding Member States have open science infrastructure at the national or institutional level, the platform helps make knowledge more discoverable, accessible and useful for evidence-based-decision-making”, said Hu.
The platform’s data visualisations feature cross-country profiles and a “semantic cloud” highlighting the primary recurring implementation challenges nations face. Additionally, users can view deep metadata, verify open-access status, and explore academic or patent citations. To ensure accessibility for the public and non-specialist policymakers, the platform provides curated, illustrated highlights written in plain language. These initial summaries target critical global issues, including climate change, water resource management, and the gender gap in science.
