Identifying Needs and Stakeholders

Last updated on 2025-04-23 | Edit this page

Overview

Questions

  • What are the open science needs at your institution?
  • Who should be involved in starting a community of practice?
  • How can you identify allies and supporters for your initiative?

Objectives

  • Gather 3–5 open science needs or opportunities at your institution.
  • Identify key researcher and support audiences to engage.
  • Select 2–3 potential partners or allies for launching a CoP.

Why Start Here?

Launching a successful CoP begins with understanding your local context—what’s missing, what’s already working, and who’s already doing the work. This episode helps you identify pain points and map out people and groups who can help you move forward.

Starting with known needs and existing relationships builds momentum and trust.

Mapping Institutional Needs

Callout

📋 Exercise: Institutional Scan Individually or in small groups, write down: - Three current challenges researchers face with open science at your institution - Two existing programs or resources that support openness - One area where your institution could grow or improve

Then share out with the group or on a shared board.

Sample Categories of Need

  • Lack of training in reproducible workflows
  • Unclear data sharing expectations
  • Few opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration
  • Limited awareness of platforms (e.g., OSF, Dryad, Zenodo)

Identifying Stakeholders

Think about who should be part of or connected to your community: - Faculty researchers - Graduate students or postdocs - Librarians and data support staff - IT staff or digital infrastructure teams - Campus centers (e.g., research office, ethics board, grants office)

Callout

💬 Think–Pair–Share - Who are your likely allies? - Who might benefit but hasn’t been invited before? - Who could help advocate for your group?

Activity: Stakeholder Mapping

Use a 2x2 matrix to sort stakeholders by: - Level of interest in open science (low to high) - Level of influence on campus (low to high)

Draw this out or use a sticky note tool. Discuss: - Who falls in the “high influence / high interest” quadrant? - Who is underrepresented but valuable to include?

Planning Your Core Team

Try to identify 3–4 people you could invite to help start or co-lead the CoP. Look for: - A mix of roles (e.g., researcher, librarian, admin) - People who have time or are looking for new opportunities - Early adopters who could bring others in

Key Points

  • Identifying needs helps tailor your community to local goals.
  • Stakeholder diversity improves sustainability and reach.
  • Starting with a small, committed team can build momentum.