OECD Publishes Policy Report on Research Infrastructure Ecosystems

On 5 September 2025, the OECD released a new policy paper, “Fostering research infrastructure ecosystems for addressing complex scientific and societal challenges”.

The report underlines the critical role of Research Infrastructures (RIs) in enabling world-class science and innovation, while stressing that no single RI can provide all the tools required to tackle today’s complex, interdisciplinary challenges. Instead, the OECD highlights the value of RI ecosystems – dynamic partnerships across infrastructures, disciplines and borders – as a means to accelerate discovery and deliver socio-economic impact.

Key messages include the need to:

• Broaden user communities and unlock unexploited RI potential.
• Incentivise collaboration across disciplines and geographies.
• Integrate RI ecosystems into national and international strategic planning.
• Develop sustainable funding mechanisms that reward cooperation and inclusion.

Examples such as RI collaborations during the COVID-19 crisis illustrate the potential of ecosystems to respond rapidly to urgent societal needs. The report calls on policymakers, funders and RI managers to embed ecosystem thinking into long-term planning to maximise return on investment in research infrastructures.

Read the full report here: OECD Report

Policy brief here: Unlocking the potential of RI ecosystems