The 2023 Annual Forum offered a series of carefully tailored presentations and panels addressing key themes and topics related to the advancement of Open Science policies and practices in research institutions and research communities throughout the Arab world. We were honoured to have Khalifa University as our Host Partner for this event, and to have the support and endorsement of our partner UNESCO.

This year’s conference theme was: Democratizing Knowledge: The evolution of open science ecosystems and communities in the Arab World. We invited librarians, researchers, policy makers, higher-education institutions, publishers, and solutions-providers to join us.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of our organisers, partners, and delegates, the 2023 Annual Forum was a huge success, with over 700 delegates attending in-person or online, from over 63 countries across the world.  We also had presentations from over 60 leading global experts and key regional stakeholders, who joined us online and in-person to facilitate a truly thought-provoking programme around some of the Open communities most pressing issues.