Jenny Molloy
I am a Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and a Group Leader at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB, Trieste, Italy) where I develop open technologies for engineering biology. I also research the potential for local, distributed biomanufacturing of enzymes to improve access to diagnostics and build capacity for biological research in the global South. I also co-founded four social enterprises and communities, working with collaborators in Africa, Latin America and beyond to build a open, sustainable and equitable global bioeconomy.
Sessão
Open science hardware (OSH) offers a powerful yet underutilized strategy for building local innovation capacity, strengthening supply chains, and enabling cost-effective, context-relevant research tools. In an era of rising geopolitical uncertainty and economic precarity, OSH provides more than just accessible instrumentation—it forms the foundation of resilient, community-driven technological ecosystems.
This presentation draws on new evidence from the Open Science Shop project, a global network of local open science hardware vendors and manufacturers. Through a combination of network analysis and case studies associated with the Open Science Shop, we explore how open hardware projects create economic value—not only through tool deployment, but through skills development, local supplier engagement, and innovative design practices that adapt to regional constraints and needs.
We aim to show pathways for OSH projects to become nodes for distributed production and innovation, while identifying the most relevant challenges in practice. We expect to make the case that OSH should be seen not only as a technical or scientific asset but as a strategic tool for economic resilience, especially in under-resourced or peripheral regions. We conclude by proposing practical pathways for enabling local innovation ecosystems based on OSH, drawing from the Open Science Shop’s framework for global-local collaboration.