As the date of the 2023 Annual Forum draws closer, we are delighted to announce the first of our Keynote Speakers: Heather Joseph, Executive Director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC). SPARC is an international coalition of academic and research libraries promoting the open sharing of knowledge. Under her stewardship, SPARC has become the leading advocacy organization promoting innovative open and equitable

Our Call for Papers for this year’s Annual Forum has closed, and we are delighted to have received a record number of submissions for papers and round tables, with almost 100 submissions from 25 countries across the Arab region and beyond (in addition to the expert contributions of our invited speakers and keynote presenters). We want to thank all the scholars, scientists, librarians and open

In 2022, we were honoured to have UNESCO as our Advisory Partner for the first Annual Forum. In addition to providing expert guidance and support, UNESCO gave one of our keynote presentations and sponsored a fantastic and thought-provoking panel, covering three core topics from the Open Science Recommendation list. Dr. Ezra Clark, UNESCO – “Open Science Policies and Strategies” Dr. Yousef Torman, ASREN – “Building

As a new initiative, one of our biggest challenges is to develop a broad community of experts who can provide guidance and practical support to our members and stakeholders concerning the wide array of issues and developments relating to the implementation of open science policies and practices in research institutions. This is one of the reasons why we have two types of membership, one for

We are so pleased with how our Community Development Series is gathering traction, that we wanted to tell you all about it! The Community Development Series offers practical guidance on a broad array of issues relating to the implementation of Open Science policies and practices in scholarly ecosystems, via monthly events held in collaboration with non-profit organisations and open source solutions providers. Our first event

We were very excited to have the opportunity to present a paper at the 43rd International Association of University Libraries (IATUL) conference, jointly hosted by Zayed University and the American University of Sharjah. Our Director of Operations, Dr Emily Choynowski, gave a paper titled Planning for Open: How the Forum for Open Research in MENA is supporting the region’s research libraries, which provided an overview

We are excited to announce that Khalifa University will be our Host Partner for the 2023 Annual Forum! Based in Abu Dhabi, the Khalifa University of Science and Technology is one of the top-ranked universities in the region (and first in the UAE), and a leading champion of open science in the region. We are honoured to be able to partner with them for this

We are excited to announce that the Call for Papers for the 2023 Annual Forum is now open! The theme of the conference is ‘Democratising Knowledge: The evolution of Open Science research ecosystems and communities in the Arab World’. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become a source of inspiration across the world, and a driving force to combat inequality and injustice across every

Our Community Development Series is launching, and our first event is a collaboration with the International Science Council. Our mission is to support our stakeholders in their journey towards openness by facilitating the exchange of actionable insights and the development of practical policies. A key part of that strategy is the Community Development Series, designed to provide insights and learning opportunities for all stakeholders looking

The 2023 Annual Forum will take place on the 23rd and 24th of October, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Every year, we hold the Forum in a different Arab State, to enable all researchers, librarians, and Open Science champions to have the opportunity to attend in person (as well as online). In 2022, we held the Forum in Cairo, Egypt, with the support