OA Week 2026 Program of Events

The Cost of Knowledge: Modelling the Future of Scholarly Publishing

CAUL and OAA are coming together to present this first session on the financial cost of open access. By combining data from sources such as OpenAlex, OpenAIRE and consortium publishing agreements, it is now possible to build detailed models of publishing activity and costs at scale. In this session, Bianca Kramer and Cameron Neylon will demonstrate how these approaches can help organisations assess publishing scenarios, forecast future expenditure, and support strategic planning for open access.

Bianca Kramer is independent advisor, research analyst and facilitator at Sesame Open Science, with a focus on open science, open metadata and open infrastructure. She combines this with her role as  Executive Director of the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information, an initiative she helped organize and coordinate. She has a background in research communication and libraries, having worked as scholarly communication/open science librarian at Utrecht University Library for 15 years. She has been on the board of FORCE11 and on various advisory boards including for Crossref and EuropePMC. Recently, she helped set up ORION-DBs, an initiative to make open scholarly metadata available for analysis through cloud infrastructure. 

Cameron Neylon is a researcher and advocate for positive change in knowledge production. Cameron’s work has focused on how research institutions function and can be improved, and how to make the internet more effective as a tool for scholarship. He writes and speaks regularly on scholarly communication, the design of web based tools for research, and the need for policy and cultural change within and around the research community. From a start as a biomedical scientist Cameron has moved through roles in research infrastructures and publishing, as the first Director of Advocacy at PLOS. From 2015-2024 Cameron was Professor of Research Communication at the Centre for Culture and Technology at Curtin University where he was co-lead on the Curtin Open Knowledge Initiative.

The Cost of Knowledge: Paying in Data - Surveillance, AI and the Future of Open Access

Co‑hosted by SPARC and Open Access Australasia, this webinar will explore “the cost of knowledge” in an age of pervasive data collection and artificial intelligence. The session will look at how surveillance and data extraction are built into many research, publishing and learning platforms, and how emerging AI tools depend on and extend these practices.

The speakers will consider:

• how user data, reading habits and research activity are monitored and monetised in scholarly communication systems;
• how AI and analytics intensify existing power imbalances
• the impact on Indigenous communities, local institutions, and knowledge systems
• what this means for intellectual privacy, academic freedom, equity, and the future of open access.
• what opportunities exist or could be built to push for privacy‑respecting, community‑governed infrastructure and the responsible use of AI in research and education. 

Sarah Lamdan is a Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law. Before teaching law, Sarah was a law librarian and research analyst in private and academic libraries. Her teaching and research focus on information laws and policies, addressing topics across the informational spectrum from public information access to personal data privacy. She has authored several books about information issues, including Data Cartels: The Companies That Control and Monopolize Our Information (2022). Sarah also works on information access and data privacy initiatives with groups like the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, IOI (Invest in Open Infrastructure), and various data privacy and immigration advocacy organizations. 

Lee Timutimu (he/him/ia) is Kaihāpai Mana Raraunga (Data Sovereignty Steward) at the University of Waikato, working within the Library’s Open Research team. Of Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Tūhoe, and Ngāti Porou descent, Lee provides research data management advice and technical support to researchers and students, with a particular focus on Māori, Pacific, and Indigenous research and researchers. His role centres on ensuring best practice management, sharing, and preservation of research data while balancing Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural protocols, and community ownership with institutional and funder requirements. Lee also delivers teaching and training in research data management aligned with Māori, Pacific, and Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles. Outside of his mahi at the University, Lee is a practitioner in AI (Founder of Awa Digital and Māori AI Wānanga), and is a member of the Kāhui Māori AI Forum NZ. He’s also a PhD candidate with Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, with his research focused on global Indigenous leadership in AI. 

Nick Shockey is Associate Executive Director of SPARC, where he works to advance knowledge sharing as a human right and strengthen open, community-centred research systems. Since joining SPARC in 2009, he has led initiatives spanning open access, open education, equitable publishing negotiations, privacy and surveillance in scholarly platforms, and public policy. He also helped establish SPARC’s Privacy & Surveillance Community of Practice, with a focus on how commercial platforms’ data practices affect library values and intellectual privacy. 

The Cost of Knowledge: Community-Governed Knowledge in the age of AI

Knowledge is not made equitable simply by being open. It remains meaningful and responsibly shared only when the systems that store, describe, access and preserve it are accountable to the communities whose knowledge and data they hold. As AI and large-scale platforms reshape how research information is hosted, discovered and reused, this webinar asks what is gained—and what is put at risk—when repositories, data services and decisions about access move away from Indigenous, local, public or community-governed control.

Join us to examine the “cost of knowledge” beyond subscription fees and publishing charges. Through a conversation about Indigenous technology platforms and community-led digital infrastructure, we will explore the consequences of outsourcing knowledge systems, the choices available to communities, and what responsible, community-governed infrastructure can make possible for the future of open knowledge.

Chris Cormack (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe) has 24 years’ experience working in the ICT sector, with 21 of those being in the Library ICT sector. He was one of the original developers of the Koha library management system, started in Horowhenua and now used by over 18,000 libraries worldwide. Chris started his professional career working for Te Pūtahi a Toi at Massey University after completing his studies for a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Māori Studies and Mathematics. He programmed the backend of the Toi te Kupu system (a catalogue of resources in te reo Māori and for the teaching of te reo Māori) Chris is now Kaihuawaere Matihiko at Catalyst IT and He Māwhitiwhiti Matihiko ki te kākahu o Hine-Raraunga at Te Kāhui Raraunga

Ryan Stoker is Team Leader of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA) at the University of Technology Sydney. Ryan works at the intersection of Indigenous data stewardship, digital preservation and culturally appropriate access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research data. His work includes supporting communities’ access to and engagement with data about them, applying cultural protocols to the management of digital collections, and helping preserve knowledge for future generations. Ryan is also a contributor to the Envisioning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander AI Futures Communique (March 2025), which brings together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives on how AI can and should support community aspirations, authority and self-determination.

Ian Capstick is Chief Impact & Communications Officer at Animikii Indigenous Technology. He works on technology designed to advance Indigenous data and technological sovereignty, including Niiwin, Animikii’s Indigenous Data Sovereignty Platform. Niiwin supports communities to collect, govern and use their data through culturally informed digital infrastructure shaped by Indigenous rights, governance and relationships. 

The Price is Right OA Week 2026 edition: Exploring the True Cost of Open Access

Join us for a light-hearted virtual price-guessing game inspired by the classic television game show The Price is Right. As we test the audience’s best estimates, we will uncover the real costs behind open-access publishing and research-sharing practices, from publishing charges and infrastructure to the work involved in making knowledge openly available, discoverable and reusable.

No specialist knowledge required – just bring your best guesses!

Meet your MC: 

Danny Kingsley is Director, Library Services (Information) at Deakin University and an Ambassador for the OAPEN Library of open access books. She is a thought leader in international scholarly communication, has worked for universities across Australia and the UK, and was Deputy Director of Cambridge University Libraries. She was the first Executive Officer of what is now Open Access Australasia and sits on bodies including the Royal Society Advisory Committee on the Future of Research Publishing, the Australian National Open Science Taskforce and the FORCE11 Board of Directors. Danny also serves on the Library Board of the Open Journals Collective.

Can Data Sovereignty and Open Access Co-exist? Perspectives from across the Asia Pacific on the cost of open knowledge

This year’s International Open Access Week theme is “The Cost of Knowledge.” But cost is not only financial. Open access has often been pursued on the assumption that making knowledge more widely available is an uncomplicated public good, without sufficient scrutiny of how open practices can affect different peoples, communities and knowledge systems. Open Access Australasia and OASPA are honoured to welcome expert speakers to discuss just and ethical governance of Indigenous data. This webinar will explore whether – and under what conditions – open access can support Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance (IDS&G), while asking how open-access policy and practice can be shaped by Indigenous authority, priorities and governance. 

The conversation will consider the CARE Principles – Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility and Ethics – alongside ways to operationalise IDS&G being practiced in Australasia and the Asia Pacific.

The conversation will be chaired by Māui Hudson, a member of Whakatohea and Director of Te Kotahi Research Institute at the University of Waikato. He is a founding member of Te Mana Raraunga (the Māori Data Sovereignty Network) and the Global Indigenous Data Alliance (GIDA), as well as a co-author of the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance.

Maui will be joined by:

Dr Skye Trudgett, a Gamilaroi woman, leads Kowa Collaboration with a passion for empowering First Nations communities through evaluation and research. Her PhD in evaluation and Indigenous Data Sovereignty, along with 15 years of experience leading research, evaluation and innovation projects, makes her a recognised expert in First Nations UMEL practice. Skye’s vision ensures Kowa’s work is grounded in culturally safe practices and ethical data governance.

Pyrou (Pru) Chung works with the East West Management Institute and in collaboration with Asia Pacific NGOs specializing in Indigenous women’s environmental defender networks and marginalized communities. I bring an environmental science background to gender justice work. As a recognized expert in open knowledge systems and inclusive data governance, I have dedicated my work towards supporting Indigenous groups and women to manage environmental systems and cultural heritage with respect for data sovereignty. My work bridges technology and social equity, focusing on digital transformation and the implications of Artificial Intelligence.

Margaret TU recently graduated from the Ph.D. in Law program at the University of Washington. Coming from a mixed background that includes the Indigenous Pangcah/Amis people of Taiwan, her research explores law, technology, and Indigenous studies, focusing on data sovereignty and self-determination.
Margaret will introduce the development of Indigenous Data Sovereignty in Taiwan and consider what Taiwan can contribute to broader global conversations about data governance, open scholarship, and the respectful use of Indigenous knowledges and data.