2026-10-27 –, Naturalis 01
Globally adopted persistent identifier infrastructures such as Crossref, DataCite, and the Research Organization Registry (ROR) are critical to a connected research ecosystem. However, sustaining these shared services requires more than technical standards. It depends on clear operational models, shared principles, and coordinated and strategic efforts to leverage, connect, and build upon existing solutions.
This presentation focuses on the practical realities of sustaining open research infrastructure. Drawing on experience from Crossref, DataCite and ROR, we highlight how community governance, transparent operations, and funding models support long-term resilience,
argue for strengthening and connecting existing infrastructure, and share lessons on how organizations can work together to build a more coherent, sustainable ecosystem that supports global research.
Open scholarly infrastructure underpins the global research ecosystem, and the metadata describing research outputs, which includes persistent identifiers (PID), enables their connection, discovery, and reuse. While much attention is given to technical interoperability, less attention has been given to how the long-term sustainability of this infrastructure depends on how it is operated, governed, and supported.
This session focuses on practical lessons from sustaining key components of the open scholarly infrastructure ecosystem, including Crossref, DataCite and the Research Organization Registry (ROR). These infrastructures were created to address shared community needs and have evolved into globally relied-upon services. Their continued collective community value depends on coordinated and strategic efforts to leverage, connect, and build upon existing solutions.
We will focus on three core areas:
Sustaining operations, not just building services
Reliable infrastructure requires clear operational models, sustainable funding, and accountability. We will share how infrastructures such as DataCite, Crossref, and ROR balance openness with financial sustainability, ensuring services remain stable, trusted, and responsive to community needs.Principles that guide decision-making
Sustainability is grounded in clear, shared principles. We will draw on the Principles of Open Scholarly Infrastructure (POSI) to show how commitments to openness, transparency, sustainability, and community governance translate into day-to-day operational decisions. This includes how priorities are set and trust is maintained across a diverse network of global stakeholders.Building an ecosystem, not duplicating effort
A key challenge in open infrastructure is fragmentation. Too often, new services are created where coordination would be more effective. We will highlight the importance of investing in and extending existing infrastructure, aligning efforts across organizations and initiatives and working collaboratively to strengthen interoperability and reduce duplication.
During the session we will emphasise practical approaches rather than theory. This includes how to align stakeholders, establish governance that reflects shared ownership, and make operational decisions that support long-term resilience.
This session is particularly relevant for organizations building or sustaining open scholarly infrastructure, as well as repository managers, research infrastructure providers, and PID implementers working to integrate and use shared services effectively. It will also be valuable for funders and policy makers shaping and supporting sustainable research infrastructure models.
Matt Buys is Executive Director of DataCite, a global non-profit organization providing persistent identifier (PID) infrastructure to support open and connected research. He leads the organization’s strategy across community governance, services, and operations, with a focus on strengthening trusted, sustainable, and community-driven scholarly infrastructure serving stakeholders in over 65 countries. 
With over 15 years of experience in the research and scholarly communications ecosystem, Matthew has worked closely with institutions, funders, and international partners to advance open science practices and collaborative infrastructure. 
He is also an active contributor to governance in the open research landscape, serving as Board Chair of the Center for Open Science, Vice Chair of the DOI Foundation, and a board member of FORCE11, supporting global efforts to promote openness, persistence, and trust in research.
Ed Pentz became Crossref’s first Executive Director when the organization was founded in 2000 and manages all aspects of the organization to ensure that it fulfills its mission to make research outputs easy to find, cite, link and assess. Prior to joining Crossref, Ed held electronic publishing, editorial and sales positions at Harcourt Brace in the US and UK and managed the launch of Academic Press’s first online journal, the Journal of Molecular Biology, in 1995. Ed lives in Oxford, UK with his wife and two cats.