The Fostering Innovation Network (FIN) is a cross-sector initiative convened by ORCA in collaboration with Microsoft and CERN. FIN aims to identify and test practical solutions to challenges that limit the scientific, societal, and commercial impact of open science, open source, and open data.
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Overview
The Fostering Innovation Network (FIN) is a cross-sector initiative convened by ORCA in collaboration with Microsoft and CERN. FIN aims to identify and test practical solutions to challenges that limit the scientific, societal, and commercial impact of open science, open source, and open data.
With support from Schmidt Sciences, ORCA produced Fostering Innovation through Open Science, an analysis examining how open approaches can accelerate discovery and innovation, enable emerging technologies such as AI, and increase the public value of research. We next convened leaders from academia, industry, philanthropy, and civil society in early 2026. The workshop (summarized here) identified concrete opportunities for cross-sector collaboration and established a Steering Committee to translate those opportunities into action.
Target communities
FIN has since selected its first pilot, testing a model procurement framework designed to reduce contractual friction in the acquisition and use of open source technologies. Carnegie Mellon University, Mass General Brigham and CERN are acting as replication sites. The pilot is designed to generate practical evidence that can inform adoption across different institutional contexts. Future community-led pilots will follow a similar “awareness → alignment → action” framework.
To succeed as an impactful network, FIN will also invest in building trust, collegiality, and strong connections among participants through a Community of Practice (CoP). The CoP will create regular opportunities for knowledge exchange, skills development, impact assessment, and co-investment across its diverse community, using a mix of engagement formats to foster both focused peer-to-peer collaboration and broader connections.
FIN brings together organizations and individuals working across open science, open source, research, innovation, and technology, including:
Researchers and research institutions
Open science, open source, and open data communities
Universities and research infrastructure providers
Technology companies and industry partners
Research funders and philanthropic organizations
Government and public-sector organizations
Civil society organizations working on access to knowledge and the public value of research
Goals
Identify shared challenges in open science and open source that require cross-sector collaboration
Translate those challenges into focused, testable interventions
Build effective models for collaboration across academia, industry, philanthropy, government, and civil society
Test practical solutions in real institutional environments and generate evidence about what works, where, and under what conditions
Develop replicable approaches that can be adapted to other open research challenges
Strengthen sustained cross-sector coordination around open science and innovation
Outputs
Fostering Innovation through Open Science, an analysis of the role of open science in accelerating discovery, innovation, emerging technologies, economic growth, and public value
A cross-sector workshop convened in early 2026 with leaders from academia, industry, philanthropy, and civil society, and a workshop summary identifying key challenges and opportunities for collaboration across open science, open source, and open data
Selection of the Open Source Procurement Pilot as FIN’s first focused intervention.
How to Get Involved
FIN welcomes organizations and individuals interested in contributing to the network and its pilots. Opportunities to participate include:
Sharing expertise and lessons from open science, open source, procurement, and cross-sector collaboration
Contributing to the design, implementation, or evaluation of FIN pilots
Participating as an institutional or replication partner
Proposing challenges that could benefit from a FIN pilot
Contributing technical, legal, procurement, research, or organizational expertise
Connecting FIN with additional organizations and communities that can strengthen the work
Contact Julieta Arancio at julieta@orcaopen.org regarding any of the above, or Erin McKiernan at erin@orcaopen.org regarding the CoP specifically.
Current and Prior Funders
Schmidt Sciences
Sloan Foundation