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OpenAthens Plans Access Lab Americas 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

OpenAthens invites speaker proposals for Access Lab Americas 2026, a bilingual event for attendees across North, Central, and South America, with sessions in English and Spanish.

Access Lab, OpenAthens’ flagship international conference, marks a major milestone in 2026 as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. To celebrate a decade of global collaboration and knowledge sharing, OpenAthens will host a dedicated half-day regional edition of the event on Wednesday 18 November 2026. For the first time, the programme will feature sessions in both English and Spanish, bringing together library and publisher professionals from across the region.

As a leader in remote federated authentication, OpenAthens is excited to bring together its Americas community for an engaging programme of collaborative learning, meaningful networking and insightful discussions around the challenges, trends and opportunities shaping the information industry across the region.

The event will feature a keynote presentation from Leo Lo, university librarian and dean, special advisor to the provost on AI literacy, at the University of Virginia. As a renowned voice on AI and governance in libraries, Leo will explore a timely and practical question for librarians: When an AI company wants you to use your archival content or collections for training, what should you do?

His session will introduce a governance framework designed to support libraries and publishers navigate AI-related requests with more confidence, providing practical guidance and discussing the risks and responsibilities from the institutions.

To help shape this milestone, OpenAthens is now inviting speaker proposals for the conference program. We welcome submissions in Spanish and English, from librarians, publishers, and information professionals with ideas, experiences, or innovations to share. The deadline for proposals is Friday 14 August 2026.

About Access Lab 2026

Now in its tenth year, Access Lab continues to provide a trusted platform for open conversations, practical case studies, and collaborative learning across the information community. In 2026, the program highlights regional perspectives while continuing to explore key international themes around access, digital inclusion, and user experience.

Over the past decade, Access Lab has grown into a truly global event, welcoming more than 2,000 attendees, from over 60 countries. The new Americas-focused edition reflects the strong engagement from the region, prompting the launch of a dedicated regional edition in 2026 to provide a focused space for regional priorities, challenges, and innovation, with content available both in English and Spanish for the first time.

Join as a Speaker

This is your chance to contribute to Access Lab Americas 2026, a dedicated regional edition designed to reflect the priorities, experiences, and insights of the Americas community. Whether you’re a publisher or librarian, we want to hear your ideas and experiences.

We especially encourage proposals showcasing real-world challenges, successful projects, lessons learned, or innovative approaches from across the region.

We’re looking for speakers to contribute to:

• Case studies
• 10-minute lightning talks
• Panel discussions
• Discussion groups

This is a great opportunity to speak, raise your profile, and connect with a global audience.

Topics for 2026 include: 

• AI in libraries
• Impact of library budgets
• User experience and accessibility
• Federated authentication and seamless access
• Disinformation, security and user privacy
• Research integrity

How to Submit Your Session Idea

Get inspired to speak at Access Lab 2026 by watching the 2025 Access Lab sessions and submit your proposal for the Americas edition by Friday 14 August 2026 by completing the short online form. 

Register to Attend

Registration is now open! If you’d prefer to attend rather than present, you can register for the half-day online event here. 

For more information please contact:

contact@openathens.net
+44 (0)117 450 0440
openathens.net

About OpenAthens

OpenAthens is a global leader in federated identity and access management, helping libraries and publishers connect people to knowledge. Founded in the University of Bath in 1995 as the “Athena project” it’s aimed at simplifying access to digital content as the Internet started to become more present in our daily life. Today, OpenAthens is part of Jisc, a not-for-profit membership organization based in the UK, that delivers the vital digital infrastructure and shared services that inform, protect and promote education and research.  

OpenAthens is trusted by over 3,200 libraries in nearly every country in the world, ensuring their students and researchers have secure remote access to digital resources both on and off site.  

With a commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and simplicity, OpenAthens continues to shape the future of digital access – one connection at a time.

View our privacy notice and our overarching Jisc privacy notice.