EOSC Future

EOSC Future
Name	EOSC Future
Type	Research infrastructure project
Jurisdiction	European Union
Budget	€33,000,000
Start	2021
End	2025
Partners	51

EOSC Future EOSC Future is a European research infrastructure project that coordinated efforts across the European Commission, Horizon 2020 successor programmes, and multiple national research agencies to advance a pan-European open science cloud. The initiative sought to align technical frameworks, policy instruments, and stakeholder communities including European Research Council, European Science Foundation, CERN, EMBL, and national e-infrastructure providers such as PRACE and GÉANT. EOSC Future intersected with initiatives led by European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Executive Board, Digital Europe Programme, and regional projects like NordForsk and CZECH-ON.

Overview

EOSC Future built on prior efforts including OpenAIRE, EUDAT, EOSCpilot, EOSC-hub, and EOSCsecretariat.eu, bringing together academic institutions such as University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Bologna, Max Planck Society, and CNRS, alongside industry partners like Atos, IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services. The project emphasized interoperability with standards from organizations like W3C, ISO, OASIS, FAIRsharing, and Research Data Alliance (RDA). It engaged stakeholder groups including European University Association, European University Institute, LIBER, GO FAIR, and disciplinary consortia such as ELIXIR, CLARIN, DARIAH, LifeWatch ERIC, and FAIRsFAIR.

Objectives and Scope

Primary objectives connected technical, legal, and social layers by coordinating with agencies like European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission Directorate-General CONNECT, European Investment Bank, and national ministries such as Ministry of Education (France), Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain). Scope encompassed federated services for research data stewardship offered by providers including DataCite, ORCID, Crossref, Zenodo, Figshare, and EUDAT B2DROP. EOSC Future aimed to operationalize policies from instruments like the European Open Science Policy Platform, the General Data Protection Regulation, and guidance from European Data Protection Supervisor. Engagement extended to projects funded under Horizon Europe, COST Association, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and national research infrastructures such as INRIA and Jülich Research Centre.

Consortium and Governance

The consortium governance model included representation from pan-European organisations: European University Association, Science Europe, European Research Council Executive Agency, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Space Agency, and region-specific partners like SURF, CSC – IT Center for Science, SIRIC, GARR. Steering bodies coordinated with legal entities like ERIC consortia (for example ELIXIR ERIC, LifeWatch ERIC) and relied on advisory boards that involved members from European Policy Centre, Wellcome Trust, Horizon 2020 National Contact Points, and major research libraries including Bibliothèque nationale de France and British Library. Project management drew on methodologies used by Project Management Institute and standards from ISO 21500.

Work Packages and Services

Work packages mirrored activities from predecessors: technical integration, policy harmonization, service portfolio management, and community engagement. Technical work aligned with software from Apache Software Foundation, container ecosystems like Docker and Kubernetes, authentication frameworks such as eduGAIN, Shibboleth, and identity services like ORCID. Data management services coordinated with persistent identifier systems including Handle System and International DOI Foundation. Repositories and catalogues interoperated with protocols from OAI-PMH, SPARQL, and Linked Data Platform. Training and uptake work connected to initiatives like FAIRsFAIR, EOSCsecretariat.eu, European School of Data Science, and disciplinary training hubs at ELIXIR Training and CLARIN Training.

Funding and Timeline

The project received funding administered through European Commission Horizon Europe instruments and grant agreements managed by the Research Executive Agency. Financial oversight engaged audit mechanisms used by European Court of Auditors and reporting aligned with Grant Agreement Financial Guidelines. Timeline milestones coordinated with events such as Open Science Policy Platform meetings, European Research and Innovation Days, and major conferences like IDCC and IASSIST. Funding flows intersected with national programmes such as Horizon 2020 follow-ons, regional funds like European Regional Development Fund, and support from foundations including Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust for linked data initiatives.

Deliverables and Impact

Deliverables included a federated catalogue of services, policy templates, technical roadmaps, and community engagement reports produced in collaboration with partners such as OpenAIRE and EUDAT. Impact assessment referenced metrics used by OECD, Eurostat, Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER), and bibliometric analyses from Scopus and Web of Science. Uptake indicators tracked integration by research infrastructures like CERN Open Data Portal, European XFEL, ESS, and by national e-infrastructures including SURF and GARR. The project influenced policy dialogues at European Commission directorates and informed initiatives led by European Research Area stakeholders.

Challenges and Criticism

Critiques echoed concerns raised in reviews by European Court of Auditors and commentary from organisations like Science Europe and SPARC Europe about sustainability, governance complexity, and vendor lock-in risks associated with cloud providers including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Technical challenges paralleled debates in communities such as Research Data Alliance and W3C about metadata quality, FAIR implementation, and long-term preservation with institutions like National Library of Sweden and Bibliothèque nationale de France raising practicality issues. Legal and ethical tensions involved interpretations of GDPR and guidance from European Data Protection Board, while stakeholder engagement critiques referenced disparities noted by European University Association and disciplinary networks like ELIXIR and DARIAH.

Category:European research infrastructure projects