Science, technology and innovation deputy minister Dr Nomalungelo Gina. Science, technology and innovation deputy minister Dr Nomalungelo Gina has reaffirmed South Africa’s commitment to advancing open science as a public good. This came to light during a policy discussion at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, as part of the global 2026 International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development conference. The discussion focused on open science policy trends and the technical findings from the first monitoring cycle of the 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science.Open science is an approach to scientific research that aims to make the entire research process more transparent, accessible, collaborative and reusable. Addressing delegates, Gina said open science is central to transforming how scientific knowledge is produced, shared and applied, especially as countries confront challenges such as climate change, public health threats, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, digital transformation and inequality. See also “Open science provides a pathway towards achieving this vision. It promotes transparency and collaboration, improves access to scientific publications, research data, software and infrastructure, and strengthens scientific integrity and public trust,” said Gina.According to Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, South Africa has adopted a new National Open Science Policy for the country’s science and innovation landscape. The policy aligns closely with the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and supports wider access to publicly-funded research, while balancing openness with ethics, privacy, security, Indigenous Knowledge Systems and intellectual property considerations.Its contribution to open science across Africa was also acknowledged, including through the African Open Science Platform hosted by the National Research Foundation, which supports regional collaboration, policy development, capacity building and infrastructure development.Reflecting on global findings, Gina said the first monitoring cycle shows that open science is gaining momentum globally, but that sustained commitment, investment and international cooperation are needed to translate policy commitments into practical implementation.“The future of science will be determined not only by the discoveries we make, but also by how widely those discoveries are shared, who can participate in producing them, and how effectively they contribute to solving society’s most pressing challenges,” she stated.