Collaboration with Other Institutions

PASS is a community oriented Open Source Project and we're always looking to collaborate with other institutions and individuals that believe in Open Access. The PASS team has engaged in extensive collaborative efforts with various academic institutions, hosting providers, and government agencies to advance the development and integration of the PASS system. These collaborative initiatives were structured around two central themes: community engagement and communications.

Community Engagement

In the realm of community development, the PASS team, alongside members from the Eclipse Foundation, organized bi-weekly meetings during the 2023 Fall semester. These meetings fostered a collaborative environment with academic partners and hosting providers interested in the PASS system. Participants included organizations such as CalTech, the University of Virginia, the University of Oregon, the University of Louisville, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), along with potential hosting providers Lyrasis and TIND. The primary focus of these gatherings was to understand the challenges PASS could address, define software improvements for a PASS pilot, and better understand the deployment environments. This collaborative effort culminated in identifying pilot opportunities for 2024 and pinpointing institutional uses cases and integration requirements.

Communications

The PASS project team also undertook a campaign to spread awareness and foster discussions about PASS with a wide array of groups and institutions. Notable engagements included discussions on PASS integration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), presentations to the HELIOS Infrastructure Working Group and the Big Ten Academic Alliance, and participation in various spotlight series and conferences. These communications extended throughout the year, touching base with organizations such as SPARC, the US Repository Network, Figshare, and the Invest in Open Infrastructure initiative, culminating in a presentation at the Fall 2023 Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) and discussions with the NASA/CERN open science working group in early 2024.

Looking Forward

As we move forward into 2024, the PASS team is focused on facilitating the technical trials within the PASS community. These tasks are critical for enhancing the PASS system's functionality and ensuring its integration into broader academic and research infrastructures. The PASS team aims to enhance the PASS software by importing grant data and associated user data, developing a simple administrative user interface, adding additional user authentication options, and establishing a community testing environment. In addition there are two focused collaborations:

1. Institutional Repository Deposit Integrations: In collaboration with CalTech, integrate PASS with the repository InvenioRDM.

2. Integrate with a Funder Repository: The team plans to engage with NSF PAR and DOE OSTI, with support from other interested groups such as Stanford, NCAR, and Dryad. This integration is pivotal for broadening the PASS ecosystem and enhancing its utility for various stakeholders.

These strategic directions underscore our commitment to evolving PASS into a more robust, versatile platform that meets the needs of the academic and research communities. As we embark on these tasks, our focus remains on collaboration, innovation, and the continued pursuit of excellence in supporting open science and research endeavors. If you or your institution is interested in collaborating with the PASS Team, please send an email to our community Google Group.