Conference Programme
The programme of the 4th UN Open Science and Open Scholarship Conference is organized across three days, each focusing on a specific theme of the Conference. Each day includes panels, keynote presentations, and remarks from high-level speakers across the United Nations System. The Conference will be delivered in English with simultaneous translation to Japanese and Spanish.
The Conference also includes a closed-door session, “Open Science and the Pact for the Future.” This session will not be streamed and is open to members of the Advisory Committee to the Conference and invited guests.
All program times are listed in Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+9)
This list continuously updates as the programme evolves.
Thursday, October 16
AI, Open Science, and the Global Digital Divide
12:00 – 12:45 Registration
13:00 – 13:30 Welcome and opening remarks
- Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, Rector of the United Nations University; Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
- Navid Hanif, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, DESA [video message]
- Dr. Lidia Brito, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences [video message]
- Kaoru Nemoto, Director United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo
- Thanos Giannakopoulos, Chief UN Information Management Section & Dag Hammarskjöld Library
13:30 – 13:45 Open Science State of Play
- Progress of Open Science Recommendation & Brief on Scholarly Publishing, Ana Persic, UNESCO, Section of Science Technology Innovation Policy
13:45 – 14:45 Panel
- Moderator: Nick Shockey, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)
- Asmelash Teka Hadgu, Lesan AI
- Jane Andrew, University of Sydney Business School
- Michaela Bilic-Merdes, German Research Foundation
BREAK
15:00 – 16:00 Panel
- Moderator: Roheena Anand, Public Library of Science (PLOS)
- Sadao Kurohashi, National Institute of Informatics; Kyoto University
- Bishesh Khanal, Nepal Applied Mathematics and Informatics Institute
- Nayat Sánchez-Pi, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique (Inria); Inria Chile; Binational Franco-Chilean Center on Artificial Intelligence
COFFEE BREAK
16:30 – 17:30 Keynote Speaker
- Maggie Walter, University of Tasmania
17:30 – 17:45 Close of Day
Friday, October 17
Removing Barriers to Knowledge: Open Infrastructure and the Future of Scientific Access
09:00 - 9:45 Registration
10:00 - 10:05 Welcome
10:05 - 11:00 Policy Panel
- Moderator: Bregt Saenen, Science Europe
- Phoebe Koundouri, Athens University of Economics and Business & University of Cambridge; Co-Chair, United Nations IGS Global Sustainable Development Report; President, World Council of Environmental and Resource Economists Associations; Director, AE4RIA (virtual intervention)
- Yensi Flores-Bueso, Global Young Academy
- Stephen Wyber, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
BREAK
11:15 – 12:30 Panel
- David Oliva Uribe, UNESCO
- Zeynep Varoglu, UNESCO
- Lisa Petrides, Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME)
- Mpine Makoe, University of South Africa
LUNCH BREAK (lunch not provided)
14:00 – 15:15 Panel
- Moderator: Ana Persic, UNESCO, Section of Science Technology Innovation Policy
- Leslie Chan, Knowledge Equity Lab, University of Toronto Scarborough
- Mylène Deschênes, Fonds de Recherche du Québec
- David McCoy, International Institute for Global Health, United Nations University
- Felicia Nkrumah Kuagbedzi, Association of African Universities (AAU)
COFFEE BREAK
15:45 – 17:00 Panel
- Moderator: Juan Pablo Alperin, Simon Fraser University; Public Knowledge Project
- Sefakor Ankora, West and Central African Research and Education Network
- Mikiko Tanifuji, National Insitute of Informatics (NII)
- Ivonne Lujano Vilchis, Directory of Open Access Journals; El Colegio Mexiquense
- Gustavo Archuby, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (virtual intervention)
17:00 – 17:15 Close of Day
Saturday, October 18
Science Communication and Public Engagement
09:00 – 09:45 Registration
10:00 – 10:05 Welcome
10:05 – 10:15 Open Science State of Play
- Pact for the Future Implementation, Richard A. Roehrl, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (video intervention)
10:15 – 11:15 Keynote Speaker
- Yuko Harayama, GPAI Tokyo Expert Support Center (NICT)
BREAK
11:30 – 12:45 Panel
- Moderator: Yensi Flores-Bueso, Global Young Academy
- Afek Ben Chahed, Diocesan Library; Wikimedia
- Hu Chuan-Peng, Nanjing Normal University
- Thilina Heenatigala, Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI)
BREAK: Light refereshments for Conference attendees, lunch on your own
14:00 -15:00 Panel
- Moderator: Yasuhiro Murayama, Science Council of Japan; G7 Open Science Working Group; Kyoto University Library; NICT, Japan
- Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas, University of Mississippi, BioDivA Lab
- Karen Soacha, Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC); Iberoamerican Participatory Science Network (RICAP)
- Peter Elias, University of Lagos, Nigeria
15:00 - 15:15 Open Science and the Pact for the Future
- Presentation of the Communiqué of the Advisory Committee to the Conference Plenary, Yasuhiro Murayama
BREAK
15:30 - 16:30 Keynote Panel
- Moderator: Kiki Bowman, United Nations University
- Mahaletchumy Arujanan, Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre
- Maher Nasser, Assistant Secretary General and Commissioner-General of the United Nations at Expo 2025
16:30 - 16:45 Conference Close
- Thanos Giannakopoulos, Chief UN Information Management Section & Dag Hammarskjöld Library
[More details to come]