D6.6 Open-source software development pipelines

This report synthesises and contextualises common and pertinent software engineering practices with the potential to improve the efficiency, transparency, and credibility of IAM development and use. The practices are collected from the scientific literature on software engineering and are adapted to the needs and requirements of IAM development. Compared to previous efforts that aimed to synthesise best practices for model development and use, we instead develop a comprehensive framework of state-of-the-art practices that does not only provide a useful checklist for modellers but also hands-on examples on how to implement these practices. Contrary to model use, which was addressed to a larger extent in the recent literature—e.g., in terms of harmonisation techniques or participatory modelling practices—our framework focuses on aspects of model development instead, which has so far remained largely unexplored. After its elaboration, the framework is used to evaluate the current practices of the modelling teams of DIAMOND based on a survey, which was distributed to the modelling teams between April and May 2025 and included questions aiming to identify their priorities and potential areas of improvement. Along with additional reports on open science, the framework presented here will be operationalised as model development progresses.