The Scientific Coordination Infrastructure and Operating Systems Collaborative (SciOS) works to erase gaps between and within the academic, technologist, innovator, and funding communities, with an emphasis on those contributing to open science and open-source. We co-locate these networks, map the shared problems hindering their progress, and facilitate collaborative processes to discover and catalyze the development and adoption of technological solutions. We envision a scientific process that leverages technology to measurably stabilize, enhance, and democratize the supply chain of science, making the system itself more efficient, open, and accessible.

Through physical and virtual workshops, network and community building initiatives, and directed ecosystem support and engagement, SciOS creates a Collaborative environment that connects academics, researchers, technologists, innovators, funders, policy makers, institutions, corporations, and the public with one another as well as with their peers. We leverage these connections to identify, support, accelerate, and lead the adoption of collaborative technological solutions that streamline the research process and foster open science practices driven by open-source software.

The inaugural series of SciOS workshops, SciOS24, addressed issues in critical infrastructure of science, including data storage and compute, FAIR data practices, identity management, funding and incentive design, and AI integration. These workshops brought together leading technicians and engineers in both open science and web3, fostering collaboration and innovation to tackle the challenges facing scientific infrastructure today.

SciOS24 set the stage for ongoing events and programs aimed at establishing a technology-based scientific infrastructure where open science is the default mode of knowledge discovery and translation. Notably, the event, enabled by Protocol Labs, DeSci Labs, Gridcoin, and The AI Alliance exposed over 200 legacy organizations, corporations, institutions, and open source projects to technical solutions for the problems plaguing scientific infrastructure. These solutions include those within the Ethereum ecosystem.

For example, the open state data networks track brought together ecosystem partners such as DeSci Labs, Naptha AI, and IPFS with leading external technicians such as Ceramic, Orbis DB, and the GoFAIR foundation to explore how technical solutions can be woven into the future fabric of the infrastructure for scientific progress.

Ultimately, SciOS24 benefited track and workshop leads along with participants by providing a space to work together on shared solutions to deep tech problems.

SciOS’s enduring vision is to connect web3 technologies to the existing open-source and open science ecosystems.

SciOS directly impacts the Ethereum and broader Web3 ecosystem through collective efforts to enhance infrastructure resilience and interoperability, broaden community breadth and engagement, and establish technical collaborations with projects outside of Web3 bubble.

SciOS24 Outputs

• 700+ registered attendees

• 200+ legacy organizations, corporations, institutions, and open source projects exposed to web3 technology and ecosystem:

  • https://www.go-fair.org/

  • https://thealliance.ai/members

  • https://numfocus.org/sponsored-projects

  • https://numfocus.org/sponsored-projects/affiliated-projects

• Juan Benet’s Open Problems Workshop: This session addressed systemic challenges within decentralized science. By exploring new paradigms for funding, including retroactive public goods funding and impact certificates, the workshop proposed innovative models to support sustainable scientific research. It emphasized the potential of decentralized technologies for creating more equitable and transparent funding mechanisms, directly aligning with Web3's mission to democratize access to data, information, and resources.

  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YasZh7szToMx7ABjCY5duDg4mUd_MbKRWcnEd1x9XIc/edit

• Michael Zargham’s Scientific Research Ontology: This workshop provided a comprehensive ontology for mapping the scientific research ecosystem. By delineating roles, subprocesses, and their interrelations, it laid the groundwork for a more structured and interoperable scientific community.

  • https://github.com/mzargham/Scientific-Research-Ontology

• Standardization Through DeSci Doc: This discussion highlighted the urgent need for standards across the DeSci space to ensure compatibility, efficiency, and scalability. By learning from standardization efforts in other sectors and identifying specific needs within DeSci, the session underscored the role of Web3 and related technologies in establishing a standardized, decentralized infrastructure for scientific data. The emphasis on interoperability and collaboration across networks serves as a testament to the potential for Ethereum's ecosystem to underpin the next generation of scientific research infrastructure.

  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T_a8r0m53bFEiot_Ilzi0BQmlHKLUYwQQZs8lsHibfg/edit

• Coordination.network’s post produced interactive workshops: In collaboration with coordination.network, the SciOS workshops will be embedded into an LLM that will allow future “attendees” to interact with the workshops as though they were in the room at the time of the workshop.

• Expansion of The Map of Open Source Science (MOSS): MOSS is a NumFOCUS product that maps the digital knowledge and research ecosystems. SciOS saw the addition of the AI domain to the map, which includes Ethereum infrastructure projects.

• Hyperboard: A hyperboard is being assembled to track contributions to SciOS24 and future events. An early version from the event is shared below.

• Media: Videos, audio, and images are in post-production and will be released in the coming weeks.

SciOS Schedule and Participating Projects

Day One: Applications, Outputs, and Community Showcase

• Track Lead: SciOS Team and the DeSci Community

Day Two: Open Problems Sessions and Workshops

• Open Problems Sessions

  • Track Lead: Juan Benet

• Science Primitives

  • Track Lead: Michael Zargham

• DID and Permissions Workshops

  • Track Lead: Shady el Damaty, Holonym
    • Participants:
      • Ceramic
      • Orbis
      • Holonym

Day Three: Funding, Incentives, and Open State Data Networks

• Funding and Incentive Design Workshops

  • Track Lead: Andrew Dickson, Drips
    • Participants:
      • Coordination.network
      • Open Source Observer
      • Gridcoin
      • Molecule

• Open State Data Networks Workshops

  • Track Lead: Will Scott
    • Participants:
      • DeSci Labs
      • Ceramic
      • Orbis
      • Ethereum Attestation Service
      • Intuition.Systems
      • IPFS
      • Protocol Labs

Day Four: FAIR Data, Semantic Publishing, and AI in Open Science

• FAIR data and Semantic Publishing Workshops

  • Track Leads: Erik Schultes, GoFAIR foundation; Erik Van Winkle, DeSci Labs; Ronen Tamari, Common Sensemakers

• AI in Open Science Workshops

  • Track Leads: Don Gossen, Nevermined; Levi Rybalov, CoopHive
    • Participants:
      • Index Network
      • Naptha AI
      • coordination.network
      • Common Sensemakers
      • Block.Science
      • Valory

• Mapping the Ecosystem and Hackathon

  • Track Leads: Jonathan Starr, NumFOCUS; Martin, coordination.network

Use of Funds

Funds will be used to support SciOS in:

• The formation of a continuous interest group under the Open Source Science Initiative (OSSci) at NumFOCUS. OSSci is an initiative that connects the worlds of open source and open science; it bridges the divide between researchers and open source research software. The SciOS interest group (likely to be called “Technology and AI in Open Science) will be dedicated to showcasing technologies, learning about other tools/technologies in the ecosystem, and discuss technology and open science with other stakeholders deeply invested in the open science, open source, and web3 movements. Examples of technologies the group will explore include, but are not limited to, distributed storage, distributed compute, and AI. The SciOS interest group will be joining already existing interest groups in Life Sciences (chaired by Eileen Koski), Chemistry/Materials Science (chaired by Dmitry Zubarev), Climate and Sustainability (chaired by Eloisa Bentivegna), and Economics (chaired by Michael Zargham).

• The expansion of the workshop event model at major web3 and open science/open source conferences and events such as SciPy, the Open Source Summit, PyData, and All Things Open. Instead of asking those who web3 technology is intended to support to leave the comfort of their own community, SciOS will go to them.

• Including the Web3 ecosystem in MOSS to help visualize the existence and impact of technology, tools, dependencies, programs, initiatives, organizations, funding routes, people, and scientific datasets within the Web3 ecosystem and how these technologies connect to and support the open source and open science communities.

• Continued outreach to legacy organizations, institutions, and open source projects.