OSIRIS – A Nationally and Globaly Connected Knowledge Infrastructure
With more than 160 million objects, the collections in Germany’s research museums, institutions, and universities are unique. As treasure troves of knowledge in nature, culture, and technology, they are invaluable for deepening our understanding of the connections and interactions between humans and the environment, as well as the development of socio-ecological systems worldwide.
These collections are essential for both fundamental and applied research, as well as for education and training. They enable us to address pressing societal issues. To use them effectively for the benefit of society and ensure they are preserved as part of our shared human heritage, these collections must be comprehensively explored, made globally accessible, and strategically developed in their entirety.
9 Key Principles on the Importance of OSIRIS
1
OSIRIS links knowledge across nature, culture, and technology to form a unique repository of bio-techno-cultural diversity. As an infrastructure, OSIRIS forms the foundation for addressing current and future societal challenges at local, national, and international levels.
2
OSIRIS for the first time brings together the knowledge of the collections in a unifying ‘language’, making multidimensional knowledge accessible, usable, and meaningful from anywhere in the world for questions from diverse perspectives and knowledge cultures.
3
OSIRIS fosters an open and sustainable culture of data, information, and knowledge for all by integrating the currently fragmented collection infrastructures of the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.
4
OSIRIS uncovers hidden knowledge, decodes it, identifies gaps in data and knowledge, and creates entirely new synergies. Innovative methods from artificial intelligence, molecular biology, and other fields are developed and applied for this purpose.
5
OSIRIS enables new forms of knowledge-based co-creation and co-production, thereby driving the development of a broad knowledge economy.
6
OSIRIS becomes a catalyst for innovation in science, business, and society by integrating (participatory) data generation, the data itself, data analysis, and ensuring the sustainable availability and open accessibility of data.
7
OSIRIS serves as an international role model and pioneer in terms of concept, structure, objectives, and synergies of collection infrastructures and their potential uses. It strengthens Germany’s position as a hub for science and innovation. At the same time, OSIRIS becomes the central link for other countries and regions.
8
OSIRIS creates open, scalable structures, contributing to a more equitable global distribution of knowledge.
9
OSIRIS stands for the democratization and accelerated utilisation of the knowledge contained in Germany’s nature, culture, and technology collections.