Stage 4: Dream and Scheme

Now that your community is up and running, what happens next? That’s up to you! What we provided in this toolkit is our experience with OSCs so far. We hope that, some day, OS will become such a common practice that OSCs will no longer need to focus on OS alone. Instead, OSCs can evolve and become platforms aimed at exploring means to innovate science, or as networks to initiate (interdisciplinary) collaborations. Until that day, we will continue to attract newcomers to OS, assist them in opening up their workflows, and interact with policy, infrastructure, and society to shape the transition to OS. This transition is an ongoing process, with local national and international stakeholders, each moving at their own pace. And it is bound to be a bumpy ride. We need to be agile, willing and able to adjust our ways to meet unforeseen challenges. At times it will be smooth sailing, other times we’ll be in for stormy weather. But together, our fleet of OSCs can navigate hell or high water. And one day, we will look back and see that science has become more open, more effective, and more fun, and that we have paved the way for generations to come.