German Initiative for Network Information

The Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformation e. V. (DINI) is a German registered association founded on 18 March 2002 in Göttingen, where its office is still based. It brings together libraries, computing centres and media centres of German universities and non-university research institutions to jointly improve information and communication services and to promote the development of the necessary information infrastructures at regional and supra-regional level. DINI was modelled on the American Coalition of Networked Information (CNI) and was established as an initiative of three partner organisations: the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Medieneinrichtungen an Hochschulen e. V. (AMH), the Deutscher Bibliotheksverband e. V., Sektion 4: Wissenschaftliche Universalbibliotheken (dbv), and the Zentren für Kommunikation und Informationsverarbeitung in Lehre und Forschung e. V. (ZKI). DINI's activities are organised in thematic working groups covering topics such as electronic publishing, research data, e-learning, learning spaces, research information systems, interoperable metadata and artificial intelligence. The association aims to publicise exemplary solutions and recommend them for reuse, to stimulate, support and further develop standards, to register competence centres, to improve cross-institutional exchange through conferences, workshops and expert discussions, and to publicise and initiate funding programmes. It is a membership organisation open to academic institutions and organisations. DINI's best-known instrument is the DINI Certificate for Open Access Publication Services, which has become a de facto standard for standardising open-access publishing services in Germany. First issued in 2004 and revised every three years, the certificate translates basic expectations for scholarly publishing into minimum requirements and recommendations. The 2022 version contained 71 requirements and 54 recommendations. The eighth version, due in autumn 2025, addresses accessibility, good scientific practice and multifunctional systems for the first time, and increasingly takes international metadata schemas and Diamond Open Access into account. A modular certification option allows hosting services to be assessed once, earning the status "DINI-ready" so that operators of hosted services face fewer criteria. The DINI Validator, fully renewed in 2024, technically checks OAI-based criteria in German and English, and the DINI list of publication services covers more than 500 services nationwide. DINI also publishes theses on the future of scholarly information infrastructures, first drafted in 1998 and updated in 2024. It holds an annual conference; the 27th DINI Annual Conference took place from 8 to 10 September 2026 in Aachen under the motto "From Campus to Cloud – Sovereign Networking", with a student ideas competition on the theme "Shaping Universities Sustainably – Start Your Future Project". The association is governed by a board; Prof. Dr. Raimund Vogl was confirmed as chair in 2026, having first been elected in 2024, succeeding Boguslaw Malys (elected 2022). Prof. Dr. Andreas Degkwitz was made an honorary member in 2022.

DINI was founded on 18 March 2002 in Göttingen as a registered association (eingetragener Verein), with its office subsequently based there. It was modelled on the American Coalition of Networked Information (CNI) and established as an initiative of three partner organisations: the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Medieneinrichtungen an Hochschulen e. V. (AMH), the Deutscher Bibliotheksverband e. V., Sektion 4: Wissenschaftliche Universalbibliotheken (dbv), and the Zentren für Kommunikation und Informationsverarbeitung in Lehre und Forschung e. V. (ZKI). The association's purpose was to improve information and communication services and to promote the development of the necessary information infrastructures at German universities and other research institutions, regionally and supra-regionally, through agreements, division of labour, and the joint development of standards and recommendations. The roots of DINI's standards work go back to 1998, when theses on the 'information and communication structure of the future' were first drafted. In 2004 the association began certifying repositories and document and publication services through the DINI Certificate for Open Access Publication Services, developed by the DINI working group on electronic publishing (DINI-AG E-Pub). The certificate has since been revised every three years to reflect technical, organisational, legal and science-policy developments, becoming a de facto standard for open-access publishing services in Germany. The 2022 version contained 71 minimum requirements and 54 recommendations. The eighth version, due in autumn 2025, addresses accessibility, good scientific practice and multifunctional systems for the first time, increasingly considers international metadata schemas, and focuses more strongly on Diamond Open Access; an RFC version was published on 12 May 2025 to discuss the proposed changes with repository operators. A modular certification option allows hosting services to be assessed once, earning the status 'DINI-ready', and the DINI Validator, fully renewed in 2024, technically checks OAI-based criteria in German and English. The DINI list of publication services covers more than 500 services nationwide. DINI's activities are organised in thematic working groups on topics including electronic publishing, research data, e-learning, learning spaces, research information systems, interoperable metadata and artificial intelligence. The association holds an annual conference and publishes theses on the future of scholarly information infrastructures, updated in 2024. The 21st DINI Annual Conference took place in 2020, the 22nd in 2021 online under the motto 'Shaping the Future', the 23rd in 2022 in Frankfurt/Main jointly with the ZKI autumn conference, the 24th in 2023 in Stuttgart, the 25th in 2024 in Potsdam, the 26th in 2025 at Jade Hochschule in Wilhelmshaven, and the 27th from 8 to 10 September 2026 in Aachen under the motto 'From Campus to Cloud – Sovereign Networking'. Student ideas competitions have accompanied several conferences, including 'Neustart! Gemeinsam hybrides Lernen gestalten' (2021/22), 'Mit KI lernen: Intelligente Bildung für eine intelligente Zukunft' (2023/24) and 'Hochschule nachhaltig gestalten – Starte dein Zukunftsprojekt' (2025/26). Leadership has changed over time: Boguslaw Malys was elected chair of the board in 2022, Prof. Dr. Raimund Vogl was elected in 2024 and confirmed in 2026, and Prof. Dr. Andreas Degkwitz was made an honorary member in 2022. Founding members mentioned in connection with DINI's early years include Peter Schirmbacher and Elmar Mittler (both 1999 founding members).

• 2026

  27th DINI Annual Conference from 8 to 10 September 2026 in Aachen under the motto 'From Campus to Cloud – Sovereign Networking'; Prof. Dr. Raimund Vogl confirmed as chair

• 2025

  26th DINI Annual Conference at Jade Hochschule in Wilhelmshaven; updated edition of the DINI Certificate; RFC version of the eighth certificate version published on 12 May 2025

• 2024

  25th DINI Annual Conference in Potsdam; Prof. Dr. Raimund Vogl elected chair; DINI theses on scholarly information infrastructures of the future published; DINI Validator fully renewed

• 2023

  24th DINI Annual Conference in Stuttgart

• 2022

  23rd DINI Annual Conference in Frankfurt/Main jointly with the ZKI autumn conference; Boguslaw Malys elected chair; Prof. Dr. Andreas Degkwitz made honorary member; updated DINI Certificate 2022 published

• 2021

  22nd DINI Annual Conference held online under the motto 'Shaping the Future'

• 2020

  21st DINI Annual Conference

• 2004

  DINI begins certifying repositories and document and publication services with the DINI Certificate

• 2002

  DINI founded on 18 March 2002 in Göttingen as a registered association

• 1998

  First theses on the 'information and communication structure of the future' drafted

A membership-based German initiative and standards body for scholarly information infrastructures, best known for its de facto standard DINI Certificate for Open Access Publication Services.

• DINI Certificate for Open Access Publication Services

  A criteria catalogue translating basic expectations for scholarly publishing into minimum requirements and recommendations; first issued in 2004, revised every three years, de facto standard for open-access publishing services in Germany. The 2022 version contained 71 requirements and 54 recommendations; the eighth version is due in autumn 2025.

• DINI Validator

  A supporting tool in German and English that technically checks OAI-based criteria of the current DINI Certificate; fully renewed in 2024.

• DINI list of publication services

  An overview of more than 500 publication services nationwide.

• DINI theses on scholarly information infrastructures

  Position papers outlining the association's priorities; first drafted in 1998, updated in 2024.

1. 1DINI - Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformation e. V. (DINI)dini.de
2. 2Über uns - Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformation e. V. (DINI)dini.de
3. 3Geschichte - Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformation e. V. (DINI)dini.de
4. 4Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformationwikidata.org
5. 5Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformationde.wikipedia.org