The next Open Repositories conference location is usually kept “secret” until the final moments of the current year’s conference, but OA enthusiasts are terrible at keeping secrets, so we’re letting the cat out of the bag a little early this year. The Open Repositories Steering Committee (ORSC) is excited to announce that OR2026 will be held online!
The OR community has experienced considerable growth over the past 20 years, and with that has come increased demand to make the conference accessible to those who can’t travel to the conference each year. Considering these global access needs, along with climate change concerns, geopolitical uncertainty and ever-tightening travel budgets, the time is right for OR to try an online approach. Planning is already underway, and we will announce more details in the coming months!
We consider this an experiment, and if it’s well-received, we may consider holding the conference online every 3-4 years. If not, we’ll continue on with our traditional in-person approach.
All that said, we know that the in-person conference is a much-loved event in the repositories community, so we’re also pleased to announce that the ORSC is now seeking Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from organizations interested in hosting the 2027 Open Repositories (OR2027) Annual Conference.
In-person OR conference locations rotate between Europe, North America, and other regions of the world. For OR2027, we are particularly interested in hosting the conference in a location outside of Europe and North America. While preference will be given to EOIs from potential hosts in these other regions, we welcome and will consider all EOIs.
Please see the full Call for expressions of interest to host Open Repositories 2027 for more information and submission instructions.