Making the Global Open Research Commons Truly Global: New Report Now Available
Posted on: February 3, 2026
A newly updated version of the Lorentz Centre report on the Global Open Research Commons International Model workshop is now publicly available: https://zenodo.org/records/18383293
The model reflects work advanced through international collaboration, following discussions held at the Lorentz Centre in Leiden, Netherlands, in July 2025. The workshop was organised by chairs from the Research Data Alliance Global Open Research Commons (GORC) Interest Group and International Implementations Working Group, with support from SURF. CRDCN’s Executive Director, Natalie Harrower, was among other key research leaders and contributed insights from the perspective of research infrastructures that support the use of sensitive or restricted data.
The Global Open Research Commons model provides a flexible epistemic framework applicable across a wide range of settings. It offers a common typology for describing research commons and supports coordination and interoperability across a diverse ecosystem of digital research infrastructures. It enables individuals and organizations to reflect both theoretically and practically on their activities and needs.
Importantly, the model recognizes that research outputs and infrastructures vary widely in their degree of openness, including those that provide secure access to sensitive or restricted data, and it is already being used in practice for purposes such as enabling interoperability between commons and supporting internal organizational planning.
CRDCN is in the process of creating an organisational profile using the GORC model, which will be used to identify gaps and opportunities in organisational structure and operations.
Other helpful links:
- The first version of the report is available here: Payne et al. (2023), The Global Open Research Commons International Model Report, Version 1.0: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17230153
- More information on the Global Open Research Commons work within the Research Data Alliance can be found here: https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/gorc-international-implementations-working-group-gorc-ii-wg/activity/