OSeMOSYS Steering Committee Meeting Report

The recent annual OSeMOSYS Steering Committee meeting, held at the
ICTP in Trieste, brought together a group of institutions, including Imperial
College London, Loughborough University, KTH Royal Institute of
Technology, University College London, Simon Fraser University, and
UNDESA. The Steering Committee takes collective responsibility for the
maintenance and enhancement of the model, as well as providing
associated capacity building activities.

A recent review of the uptake of OSeMOSYS in the academic literature
showed a continued upsurge in academic articles based on OSeMOSYS
during the past 10 years with a cumulative total of 135 publications,
including 25 in the last year alone. However, an emerging concern is that
a significant percentage of these did not adhere to open access
principles.

The Steering Committee discussions were engaging and productive,
covering key topics such as “otoole”, which is a Python package that
allows users to interact with OSeMOSYS models through simple
commands in a terminal (command-line interface) or by integrating it with
other software using Python programming (Python API). The development
and updates of the Model User Interface for OSeMOSYS (MUIO), a user-
friendly interface to generate OSeMOSYS models, were also discussed.

The group also focused on the development of training materials and the
introduction of OSeMOSYS badges, a system where users can obtain a
bronze, silver, gold, or trainer OSeMOSYS badge to present on their
professional profile. These will be implemented through the newly
launched Energy Modelling Community that will provide continued support
to model users.

Best practices for open models and data were explored, reinforcing the
commitment to transparency and collaboration in energy systems
modelling. Although not all invitees could join the meeting, the exchange
of ideas and the strategic planning that took place will drive the future of
OSeMOSYS forward. The group looks forward to continuing their
collaborative efforts and sharing more updates with the community.