Netherlands

Data management, open access, research software management and citizen science are topics which are not new to the Netherlands research community. Dutch researchers, research performing organizations, research funders and service providers are already for decades strongly committed to develop and implement Open Science principles and practices.

To strengthen and align bottom-up and top-down initiatives the National Programme Open Science (NPOS) was launched in 2017. The NPOS brought together national stakeholders in the Netherlands. The aim of the NPOS was to coordinate the transition to Open Science and to disseminate its importance. The responsibility to start and implement Open Science activities lies with the various organisations involved.

In 2022 the NPOS delivered a document with an overarching ambition: ‘By 2030, scientific knowledge will be freely available, accessible, and reusable for everyone. Open Science in the Netherlands will be embedded as a standard practice across all scientific disciplines from basic to applied sciences, in the natural, medical, social sciences and the humanities.’  This ambition is translated into four strategic goals:

• Towards societal engagement and participation.
• Towards inclusive and transparent scientific processes.
• Towards open scholarly communication.
• Towards FAIR and open research outputs.

To make progress with these strategic goals progress is needed in five areas.

• Development of new and more effective use of already existing open research infrastructures for effective and open knowledge sharing. 
• Development of open knowledge practice skills in the relevant scientific communities. 
• Investment in and the spreading of best practices and inspiring strong examples of effective knowledge sharing. 
• Reform the rewards and recognition system to include open knowledge practices.
• Development of new and more effective use of existing policies and regulations.

An additional rolling agenda describes for all four strategic goals how progress in the five areas will be achieved. 

Digital Competence Centers

In 2020 NWO launched a call for the setting up or further development of local Digital Competence Centers. Research performing organisations could use this funding to appoint data stewards and/or research software engineers for an existing DCC or the central setting up of a new DCC within the organization. The DCC provides training, advice and practical support to researchers, data stewards and software engineers. SURF plays a role in technically facilitating and coordinating the secure, federated system that must interconnect the DCCs and in supporting the DCCs in knowledge sharing.

Complementary to the local DCC the scientific field and NWO are jointly establishing thematic Digital Competence Centers. There will be three thematic DCC networks, bringing together scientists in three 'domains': Life Sciences & Health (LSH), Natural and Engineering Sciences (NES) and Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). The thematic DCCs will support researchers who will work together on specific domain projects across the boundaries of their own institution. They will collaborate closely with the local DCCs.

Open Science

In December 2021 the Dutch government underpinned the importance of Open Science with a statement in the coalition agreement which stated that Open Science will be the new norm. Open Science becoming the new norm requires a stronger cooperation between researchers, research performing- and research funding organizations, service providers and support organizations and governments on a national and international scale and therefore a proactive attitude on the part of all these stakeholders. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science will fund an amount of 200 million euros for the next ten years to further boost the transition to open science. A temporary National Initiative (Open Science NL) is established in 2023 which will develop program lines and funding schemes to strengthen the uptake of Open Science. Open Science NL will build on the ambition document and rolling agenda initiated with NPOS.

To include open knowledge practices in research a reform of the rewards and recognition system is needed.  Universities, university medical centers, research institutes and research funders are the participants of the National Recognition & Rewards program. This academic community is working towards a new balance in recognizing and rewarding academics. All participants have set up committees that work on the Recognition and Rewards in their organization. https://recognitionrewards.nl/

The ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy are members of the EOSC steering board.

DANS, TU-Delft, University of Amsterdam, Utrecht University, CLARIN-ERIC, EGI Foundation, GEANT Association, GO-FAIR foundation and Stichting LIBER are members of the EOSC-A.

SURF is the EOSC-A Mandated Organization in the Netherlands.