ROAD-TRIPIN – Reinforcing Openly Accessible Data for Transparency and Reproducibility in Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation research

Posted on 4.7.2025 by Grigorios Anagnostopoulos

Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN) research still faces important challenges regarding transparency, reproducibility, and long-term reusability of scientific results. Although Open Science practices are gradually gaining momentum in the field, the sharing of Open Research Data (ORD) and Open Code remains relatively uncommon, limiting the reproducibility and comparability of published works.

The ROAD-TRIPIN project aims to strengthen the integration of Open Research Data and Open Code into Indoor Positioning research through a community-driven and institutional approach. Building upon previous efforts and inspired by similar initiatives in other research communities, such as the AGILE conference series, the project develops guidelines, supporting documentation, and practical tools to facilitate the adoption of reproducible and transparent research practices in the field, in a formal context.

A major objective of ROAD-TRIPIN is to support the integration of the provision of Open Research Data and Open Code into the review process of the IPIN conference, nurturing cultural change and stimulating the broader adoption of reproducible research practices within the community. In parallel, the project develops tools to improve the discoverability and usability of existing Open Research Data resources for Indoor Positioning research.

ROAD-TRIPIN follows a strong team-science and community-engagement approach, involving collaboration with domain experts, workshops, dissemination activities, and iterative feedback from the research community to ensure broad adoption and long-term impact.

The ROAD-TRIPIN project is funded by the Open Science II programme of swissuniversities. Moreover, HES-SO has also supported the project, guaranteeing the needed matching funds.

Results at a glance

  • Within ROAD-TRIPIN, the project activities managed to introduce a new component in the evaluation process of the IPIN conference 2026, namely the Reproducibility Review process, an optional post-acceptance process that offers authors recognition for how their work facilitates reproducibility, while also providing constructive feedback to further strengthen this effort.
  • The review process validates which aspects of the Reproducibility Guidelines (developed within ROAD-TRIPIN) are addressed by the submitted work, encouraging authors to provide Open Research Data, Open Code, and supporting material accompanying their publications.
  • The Principal Investigator of ROAD-TRIPIN, Grigorios Anagnostopoulos, serves as Reproducibility Chair of the conference and leads the implementation and coordination of the initiative within the IPIN community.