2026 State of Open Infrastructure report reveals vulnerabilities in global open infrastructure funding

IOI's analysis of US$663M+ in grant funding shows the risks of concentration and how open infrastructure protects research integrity in the generative AI era.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- NEW YORK, USA — October 5, 2026 — Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI) today launched the third annual edition of the State of Open Infrastructure report, analyzing more than US$663 million in open infrastructure grant funding over the past 25 years and revealing significant concentration in the sources of funding that sustain the infrastructure underpinning research.

The 2026 report examines the fragility of the current open infrastructure funding landscape and highlights the urgent need for increased investment and enhanced collaboration across researchers, philanthropies, open infrastructure service providers, and academia.

“With the 2026 State of Open Infrastructure report, we wanted to make the case that these challenges facing the open infrastructure ecosystem are structural, not isolated and that the fix has to match that scale. Coordination across stakeholder groups isn't a nice-to-have; it's the only way to break the silos that got us here. The data in this report makes clear that building real resilience across the sector starts now,” remarked Kaitlin Thaney, IOI’s Executive Director.

Read the 2026 State of Open Infrastructure Report

Some of the key findings from the 2026 State of Open Infrastructure report are:
- Only 29% of grant funding from the last 25 years went directly to open infrastructures: From our analysis of over US$663 million in open infrastructure grant funding over 25 years, direct funding to open infrastructures (OIs) is far smaller than adjacent funding (62%) for research that depends on those infrastructures.
- Only 33% of direct funding for open infrastructures went towards maintenance. This shows the huge preference for funding new research and innovation and not maintenance, which is an invisible yet critical need for the continuity of critical tools and services underpinning research.
Funding for open infrastructure is highly concentrated, relying only on a handful of countries and funders: Sustaining funding for open infrastructure remains heavily concentrated among a relatively small number of funders and countries. A shift in funding or policy by a funder or country could have huge ripple effects.
- Generative AI is reshaping the research integrity landscape: The report examines generative AI in the context of research integrity concerns and identifies four tangible roles (identification, affiliation, connection, and propagation) that open infrastructure can play in strengthening trust, provenance, and accountability across the research ecosystem.
- Global trends to watch: The report identifies seven key emerging topical areas that we believe could pose risks for scholarly communication as well as areas where there might be opportunities for collaboration to further open research in the years ahead.

Three areas shaping the future of open infrastructure
The 2026 State of Open Infrastructure report is organized around three interconnected areas, namely:
- Funding and sustainability examines who is funding open infrastructure, where that funding comes from, and what the concentration of sustaining investment means for the resilience of the systems research depends on.
- Generative AI and research integrity explores the implications of rapidly advancing AI technologies for the reliability and trustworthiness of research, and how open infrastructure can provide mechanisms for protecting the scholarly record.
- Emerging global trends map developments across the open research ecosystem that are already having an impact or could significantly shape the infrastructure landscape in the near future.

IOI is an independent organization working across the research sector, not a funder with a portfolio to protect or infrastructure with a service to sell. Through strategic consulting, ecosystem intelligence, and coordinated funding work, we have spent years building close relationships with every kind of sector stakeholder. That span is what lets us see connections, gaps, and opportunities that are not visible from inside any single part of the network. It is also what makes this report possible, and what makes us willing to say plainly what we think the patterns mean, not just describe them.

About Invest in Open Infrastructure
Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI) is an independent expert focused on the sustainability and resilience of the infrastructure that underpins open research and scholarly communication. IOI works with researchers, universities, funders, technology providers and governments to help them understand the infrastructure they depend on and make informed decisions about its future. For more information, please visit www.investinopen.org.

Enquiries
For IOI: Jerry Sellanga, jerry@investinopen.org

Jerry Sellanga
Invest in Open Infrastructure
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