Open science as a public good – Interview with Robinson Zapata from LA Referencia
Open access to scientific knowledge in Latin America and the Caribbean has found a key driver of regional coordination and cooperation in LA Referencia and in conversation with the IAI, Robinson Zapata, president of the Board of Directors of LA Referencia and Panama's representative to this organization, shared his vision on the role of open science and the recent cooperation agreement with the IAI.
LA Referencia was created in 2012, following a regional agreement backed by the Inter-American Development Bank. Its initial goal was to create a network of open-access repositories. Over time, it has evolved into a broader platform that seeks to develop services, infrastructure, and policies that allow any user to access publicly funded scientific and academic output.
“LA Referencia plays a coordinating role among the region's national science, technology, and innovation agencies. It is a space for dialogue, agreeing on common guidelines, and moving toward regional governance around open science,” explains Zapata.
Strategic alliances
LA Referencia currently includes 10 member countries and Spain as an external partner. Zapata mentions the integration of Central American and Caribbean countries, the incorporation of rural and indigenous communities into these policies, respect for ethical principles, and recognition of traditional knowledge as the main challenges.
One of the recent milestones for LA Referencia is the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the IAI. According to Zapata,
“the agreement with the IAI formalizes a common vision. It will allow us to work on training in open research data and on projects that strengthen open science as a public good in the region.”
This agreement is based on four pillars: strengthening collaboration, capacity building, joint search for funding, and regional cooperation mechanisms.
The potential of open science
Zapata also highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence as a tool to improve interoperability and data availability, although he stressed that this requires clear standards and policies. For him, open science is essential for addressing global challenges, as it allows solutions to be found in a timely manner. In addition, transparency strengthens trust in institutions, as it allows society to perceive the value of public investment in research and development and makes it easier for decision-makers to access relevant and up-to-date information.
According to Zapata, our region is not merely a consumer of information but actively contributes to the global ecosystem.
“Our reality—marked by funding constraints and decentralization of knowledge—has led us to be creative in our solutions and regional coordination.”
Collaboration creates solutions
All the countries in LA Referencia have developed valuable experiences over the last few years. Some have made progress at the political level, establishing regulatory frameworks that require publicly funded publications to be open access, and are moving toward similar policies for research data.
“We must dispel the myth that sharing data will lead to my idea being stolen. Quite the contrary. One example is the pandemic: we opened up the data, worked on open collaboration models, and that allowed us to create solutions,” says Zapata.
Others have developed very strong technical capabilities, creating innovative services. For example, LA Referencia is collaborating on a project that uses blockchain technology to develop persistent identifiers. These identifiers allow digital objects—such as data, publications, or any intellectual product—to be unique, visible, assessable, and preservable in the digital environment.
"Artificial intelligence represents an excellent opportunity for open science. But for it to be truly useful, data needs to be available, structured, and accessible,“ he adds.
How to join LA Referencia
In closing, Zapata proposes two lines of action:
”First, reach out to networks and countries with experience; second, take the initiative even without a formal national policy.“ He emphasizes: ”The question is often: which comes first, policy or action? In Panama, we started with concrete actions that generated evidence and impact; this then facilitated the development of more structured policies.“
Regarding LA Referencia, Zapata explains:
”A country can join without having a national node and benefit from the transfer of knowledge and technology; with the support of members, it can quickly develop its own node or national repository." He adds: “If the country already has a repository that meets international standards, it can then connect it to the LA Referencia regional node.”
For information about LA Referencia, please contact them through their website: https://www.lareferencia.info/es/contacto.
See the full interview here