The CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR), New Delhi, in partnership with the CNRS Department for Open Research Data, Open Science, Publications, Research Data, and High-Performance Computing (CNRS-DDOR), Paris, conducted a two-day Indo-French seminar titled “Open Horizons: Integrating Open Access, Open Data, and Computational Innovation” on March 5-6, 2025, at the CSIR-NIScPR Satsang Vihar Campus, New Delhi-110067.
This impactful seminar was held to discuss the progress of India and France in advancing open access, open data, and open science. It explored how digital technologies and open-source platforms can drive an information-centric approach to scientific advancement, foster collaborations, enhance transparency, and strengthen partnerships between science and society. Researchers, scientists, and policymakers from both countries participated, making it a valuable platform for knowledge exchange, open-access information sharing, and networking opportunities.
The inaugural session featured distinguished dignitaries from India and France, including Dr. Antoine Petit, Chairman and CEO of CNRS, France; Prof. Ranjana Aggarwal, Director of CSIR-NIScPR; Prof. Nitin Seth, Director of CEFIPRA; and Dr. Srinivasa Reddy, Director of CSIR-IICT, who graced the occasion.
Expressing enthusiasm for the collaboration, Prof. Ranjana Aggarwal, Director of CSIR-NIScPR, stated, “We are delighted to host this event with CNRS, France, to promote open science and research data sharing.” She emphasized the seminar’s significance in strengthening international cooperation and expanding access to scientific research for the broader community. Additionally, she highlighted the Indian government’s “One Nation One Subscription” initiative and its role in enhancing open access for a wider range of stakeholders.
Prof. Nitin Seth, Director of the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA), reflected on the evolution of Indo-French partnerships in science and technology, highlighting the expansion from just a couple of calls annually to numerous dedicated collaborations. He also shared his expectations from the seminar. Dr. Srinivasa Reddy, Director of CSIR-IICT, emphasized the impact of open access in making scientific knowledge more widely available and creating new opportunities. He also acknowledged the long-standing collaborations between CEFIPRA and CSIR-IICT.
Representing the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Dr. Antoine Petit, Chairman and CEO, and Dr. Sylvie Rousset, Senior Scientist & Head of the Open Research Data Department (DDOR), provided an overview of CNRS and DDOR, detailing their objectives, functions, and efforts in establishing open access to scientific articles and data as a standard practice. Additionally, Dr. Kasturi Mandal from CSIR-NIScPR and Dr. Sylvie Rousset outlined the seminar’s agenda, key discussion topics, and expected outcomes.
The first session, themed “Policies for Open Access and Open Science in France and India,” was chaired by Prof. Vivek Kumar Singh, Senior Adviser at NITI Aayog, Government of India. Dr. Marin Dacos from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research highlighted the benefits of open science, including improved academic efficiency, reproducibility, and increased citations, while also sharing insights into France’s open science policies. Dr. Remya Haridasan from the PSA Office, Government of India, provided an in-depth analysis of the “One Nation One Subscription” (ONOS) initiative, discussing its necessity, impact on scientific dissemination, and challenges in implementation. Other speakers, including Dr. Sylvie Rousset and Mr. Mukesh Pund, Chief Scientist at CSIR-NIScPR, also shared their perspectives on open science and data.
The second session, titled “Open Access: A Diversity of Routes,” was chaired by Prof. Anirban Chakraborti from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. Dr. Bénédicte Kuntziger from CCSD, CNRS, spoke about France’s HAL open-access repository, noting that 167,751 full-text documents were added in 2024, bringing the total to over 1.4 million as of January 2025. Dr. Françoise Rousseau from the Couperin Consortium discussed their negotiations with major scientific publishers to promote open science. Other speakers, including Dr. Subbiah Arunachalam from DST-CPR, IISc Bangalore, and Dr. Geetha Vani Rayasam, Head of CSIR-HRDG, shared insights into India’s progress in open access and its application in drug discovery.
The third session, “Open Access: A Diversity of Routes (Part II),” was chaired by Dr. Laurence El Khouri from CNRS-DDOR. Speakers such as Dr. Lidia Borrell-Damian from Science Europe highlighted the Diamond Open Access (OA) Action Plan, which aims to develop common resources for the entire Diamond OA ecosystem. Prof. Rajeswari Raina from Shiv Nadar University urged stakeholders to consider a global approach to open access beyond national and sectoral boundaries. Dr. Raphael Tournoy from Episciences emphasized the role of Overlay Journals in scholarly publishing.
The sessions concluded with an interactive Q&A session, where experts addressed audience queries on the future of open science, followed by a felicitation ceremony honoring the speakers and guests.
Day 2: Advancing Computational Innovation and Open Data
The second day of the seminar featured thought-provoking discussions on computational innovation, research evaluation, and open data sharing. The first session, “R&D in Computational Innovation and Open Source Software,” was chaired by Dr. Avinash Kshitij, Principal Scientist at CSIR-NIScPR. Speakers included:
- Prof. Roberto Di Cosmo (INRIA), who presented the Software Heritage initiative;
- Prof. P. K. Suri (Delhi Technological University), who discussed data standardization in agriculture;
- Dr. Sridhar Gautam (ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research), who explored the role of open source software, open access, and open data in R&D;
- Sh. G Mayli Muthu Kumaran (Deputy Director General, National Informatics Center – NIC), who elaborated on NIC’s initiatives in computational innovation.
The next session, “Reforming the Evaluation of Research,” featured insights from:
- Dr. Lidia Borrell-Damian (Science Europe), who spoke about the CoARA initiative for research assessment reform;
- Dr. Vinayak (CSIR-NIScPR), who introduced new methods for measuring scientific progress;
- Dr. Moumita Koley (IISc Bangalore), who discussed innovative approaches for improving research evaluation in India;
- Dr. Nishy P. (CSIR-NIIST), who examined the role of open-source tools in research evaluation.
The session on “Open Data Sharing” included presentations from:
- Ms. Alka Misra (NIC), who discussed the Indian government’s open data-sharing initiatives;
- Dr. Marin Dacos (French Ministry of Higher Education and Research), who described the ecosystem for sharing and opening research data;
- Dr. Naresh Kumar (CSIR-NIScPR), who elaborated on data sharing in scientific research.
Future of Open Science: Panel Discussion and Valedictory Session
The seventh and final session was a panel discussion on the future of open science, open data, and open source, featuring experts such as Dr. Sujit Bhattacharya, Dr. Laurence El Khouri (CNRS-DDOR), Dr. Roberto Di Cosmo (INRIA Software Heritage), Dr. Deepali Kuberkar (Tata Memorial Hospital), Dr. Kasturi Mandal (CSIR-NIScPR), Dr. Yogesh Dhoble (CSIR-IPU), and Dr. Sandhiya Lakshmanan (CSIR-NIScPR).
The seminar concluded with a valedictory session, where Dr. Naresh Kumar (CSIR-NIScPR) presented a summary of the two-day discussions on Open Science, Open Source, and Open Data in Computational Innovation. Prof. Anirban Chakraborti (JNU) emphasized the importance of a balanced approach to open science, while Dr. Laurence El Khouri and Dr. Avinash Kshitij provided a recap of the six core topics discussed. Mr. Mukesh Pund (CSIR-NIScPR) delivered the vote of thanks, expressing gratitude to the Indian and French speakers, scholars, delegates, and all contributors to the event’s success.