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The International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) held its annual General Assembly virtually for a second time this year on October 19, offering both a closed business meeting session and an open Members’ Fair session featuring presentations on Open Data and Open Science topics from five ICSTI members.

At the business meeting, a full 90% of the organization’s voting members were represented, along with several of its valued partner organizations. Major meeting topics included an update on ICSTI’s Executive Director search and needed changes to ICSTI’s governance, as well as discussion and a vote on a merger between ICSTI and the WorldWideScience Alliance (WWSA).

With regard to ICSTI staffing and governance, ICSTI president Jan Brase recommended ending ICSTI’s Executive Director search. Based on the successful implementation of the interim Executive Manager role, he further recommended shifting ICSTI’s staffing and governance model to include an Executive Manager and Board of Directors, which will replace the existing positions of Executive Director and Executive Board. The membership approved this recommendation and voiced their support for retaining Lisa Curtin, who has acted as ICSTI’s interim Executive Manager since February 2021, as the permanent Executive Manager.

Along with the WWSA operating agent Lorrie Johnson, Lisa presented the benefits and technical details of a merger between ICSTI and WWSA. Investigation into the feasibility of a merger has been ongoing since ICSTI’s 2020 GA meeting. WWSA was born out of connections between ICSTI members, and the two organizations have shared a close relationship and largely duplicate membership since WWSA’s inception in 2009. During the business meeting, the ICSTI membership voted to approve a formal merger between the two organizations, which will create greater membership value and offer expanded opportunities to grow organization membership. The details of the merger will be finalized and implemented over the coming year.

Following the business meeting, ICSTI offered a Members’ Fair session featuring presentations on Open Data and Open Science from five ICSTI members. The Members’ Fair featured these presentations along with great questions and discussion from the audience.

Both sessions from the 2021 General Assembly provided a reminder of ICSTI’s most essential value—that of bringing members together to exchange experience, expertise, and understanding.