Building Capacity for the Transformation

The 13^th Berlin Open Access conference provided a networking and reviewing opportunity in the context of the OA2020 initiative for the large-scale transition to open access.

Drawing on the concept of organization at the national level as put forward in the previous meeting, Berlin 13 aimed at strengthening the international network and sharing the experience of the various stakeholder groups in the process so far. On 21-22 March 2017, more than 200 key representatives from 33 countries and all continents of the globe came together in Berlin to share experiences toward the common goal of large-scale transformation of scholarly journals from subscription to open access. 

Hosted by the Max Planck Society, the conference was chaired by Ulrich Pöschl, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, and Gerard Meijer, Director at the Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max Planck Society.

The conference was organised as a two-day event with a clear distinction between the two days.

• Day 1 was be reserved for the signatories of the ‘Expression of Interest’ of OA2020 and additional observers from the academic communities who are considering joining the initiative. In essence, this day was a follow-up to the consensus that was initiated at Berlin 12. The ‘Roadmap’ was revisited, and progress reports from the various countries were presented.
• Day 2 was open to a wider audience and additional stakeholders. In particular, there was a dedicated outreach to the publishing industry (OA and non-OA alike) to hear their views on the transformation. Concepts for the transformation that are currently being tested were discussed from a variety of perspectives.

The conference presentations are available here, and video footage of Day 2 can be found here.