The 8th OpenAIRE AMKE General Assembly (GA), which took place on the 20-21 January 2022, brought together virtually more than 60 participants from all over Europe to discuss all recent developments, decide next steps and set new goals for the organisation.

The General Assembly is our highest decision-making body. During the GA meetings, OpenAIRE Members have the power to shape the organisation's direction and have their say. Participation plays a central role. That is why every General Assembly has its own importance. The 8th OpenAIRE AMKE General Assembly signalled a new era. Here is why:

Change of leadership

Α special "Thank You" to the outgoing Chair, Prof. Yannis Ioannidis.
Under his leadership and guidance, OpenAIRE AMKE began its journey as a legal entity

It was the last General Assembly chaired by Prof. Yannis Ioannidis, from Athena Research & Innovation Center. Under his leadership, both as Chair of the General Assembly and the Executive Board, OpenAIRE has reached a milestone: it became a fully-fledged organization, OpenAIRE A.M.K.Ε., a non-profit partnership, to ensure a permanent presence and structure for a European-wide national policy and open scholarly communication infrastructure.

"It has been a great privilege to have led OpenAIRE for over a decade, experiencing first-hand its development from its infancy to adulthood. It is now a vibrant, mature legal partnership of tens of institutions from across Europe, with a leading role in guiding researchers, data owners, policy makers, funders, and other stakeholders into Open Science. I will continue to be part of its exciting journey forward, being delighted that Inge Van Nieuwerburgh has taken the helm and will lead OpenAIRE to new heights."

Welcoming Inge Van Nieuwerburgh,
as our new General Assembly and the Executive Board Chair

As of the 21 of January, Inge Van Nieuwerburgh is the newly elected Chair of OpenAIRE AMKE General Assembly and the Executive Board.

“I’m very proud to be elected Chair of the General Assembly and Executive Board of OpenAIRE AMKE. OpenAIRE is an important player in open scholarly communication with a strong, collaborative network we need to cherish. Together with the Executive Board, the OpenAIRE team and all the members I want to drive community owned open infrastructure as a crucial part of research.”

Our Executive Board, formated in October 2021, is now composed of eight experts in Open Science assigned to steer, evaluate and advance the implementation of the strategic directions related to OpenAIRE infrastructure.

1. Liz Bal, Director of open research services, Jisc - UK
2. Andre Dazy, Coordinator of the department services and forecasting studies at Couperin - France
3. Gultekin Gurdal, Library Director, Izmir Institute of Technology - Turkey
4. Anna Lunden, Head of Division, National Library of Sweden - Sweden
5. Inge Van Nieuwerburgh, Open Science Expert, University of Ghent - Belgium
6. Eloy Rodrigues, Director of the University of Minho Libraries - Portugal
7. Michal Růžička, Head of the department of Data Security and Management, Computer Science, Masaryk University - Czech republic
8. Birgit Schmidt, Knowledge Commons Unit Head, Göttingen State and University Library - Germany

Highlights from the two days

During the first day, OpenAIRE CEO, Natalia Manola, welcomed the three new members, Confederation of OA repositories - COAR, Institute for Informatics and Automation Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Ukrainian Institute of Scientific and Technical Expertise and Information – UkrISTEI, introduced the OpenAIRE AMKE team to the Members, stressed the critical work that has been done by Executive Board, the six Standing Committees and the two Working Groups, emphasized the OpenAIRE Services' highlights, presented our participation to project proposals, outlined OpenAIRE's participation in EOSC, mentioned the important partnerships with key stakeholders and talked about future steps.

• Infrastructure for open scholarly communication
• Research and assessment
• Innovations in research communication & dissemination
• Monitoring of the uptake of open science policies
• Data and service quality assurance

OpenAIRE's mission and vision and the emerging priorities were at the centre of discussion. Members were actively involved in expressing their view on each relevant item by highlighting the importance of placing inclusiveness as high as possible in our statements. All comments received are subject to further discussion during the Open Science Strategy SC's meetings to conclude on the final version of the Strategy Document. Once the final document is shaped, it will be communicated internally and externally.

During the second day, Prodromos Tsiavos, OpenAIRE's legal counsel, and Natalia Manola talked about the new membership model that will best reflect OpenAIRE's vision and sustainability.

Last but not least, Anastasia Aritzi, the Communications Manager and Giulia Malaguarnera, the Engagement and Outreach Officer, presented the OpenAIRE's Communication and Engagement and Outreach Strategy, while Venkat Shanmugasundaram gave a sneak-peek into OpenAIRE's training platform that soon will be released.

We want to thank all the participants for attending the 8th OpenAIRE AMKE General Assembly and setting the scene for discussions to follow and intensify in 2022, with all members having their say and participate.

Everyone's contribution was important. Together we can achieve more.