Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Coherent Digital and JISC sign agreement for Policy Commons

Jisc, a not-for-profit technology provider for research and education in the UK, and Coherent Digital, an innovative digital information services startup, have signed an agreement for Policy Commons.

“I think the best way to explain the value of Policy Commons is by example,” said Toby Green, Co-founder, Coherent Digital. “Consider this. A recent report to the IPCC identified a huge knowledge gap in climate research that is hampering efforts to prepare for COP26; they’re missing the research reports published by NGOs. To fill the gap, a project, part-funded by the EU, has been set up. We’ve built Policy Commons so researchers and organizations like IPCC don’t have to spend valuable time and resources setting up projects and systems to track down vital knowledge that’s been informally published by policy organisations around the world—because we’ve already done it.”

Launched in November 2020, Policy Commons is the first platform that brings together and organises the reports, papers and other research outputs published, often informally, by the world’s IGOs, NGOs, and third-sector organisations. It currently comprises 2.2 million items and a directory of 21,000 policy organizations, the largest ever compiled. Last month, 145,000 new items were added, as was a special collection of 45,000 items from African NGOs and 10,000 more ‘orphaned’ reports from inactive NGOs. Policy Commons also enables members of the policy community to upload and share their own publications with the international policy community.

The agreement allows Jisc members to become members of Policy Commons, so they can help shape its development and participate in decisions about which content to cover. The agreement recognises the importance Jisc places on transforming, professionalising and improving access to vital content published informally by IGOs, NGOs, and third sector organisations from across the world.

The agreement begins in April 2021, and all participating Jisc member institutions and affiliated researchers are eligible.

More information is available from Toby Green (toby.green@coherentdigital.net) or David Blake (david.blake@databeuro.com)

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(And, in case you’re wondering, the IPCC team is now looking at the 75,000 climate change reports from IGOs and NGOs already assembled on Policy Commons)

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