GARR on EOSC-Pillar: "Coordination makes strength"

What is the creation of EOSC and why is it important to actively take part in it?

After a three-year development, which has already set in motion funding for over 300 million Euro and collaborations involving all EU Member States, the European Open Science Cloud is finally on its course to seeing the light. Fulvio Galeazzi from the EOSC-Pillar Management and Federica Tanlongo from Work Package 4 (From National Initiatives to Trans-national Services) have recently described the EOSC project in depth for Italian readers on the GARR News website.

"Everybody talks about the value of scientific data, but it is not easy to find a recipe to share and exploit them for the benefit of all," is mentioned as one of the key issues that EOSC is addressing, highlighting that "even if nobody dreams of doubting the value of pure research, the goal here is to bring home the benefits of research, transforming them into tangible changes in society."

Considering that many things in the organisation of EOSC will depend on the developments of the coming months, "it will be necessary to be present in the working groups, with people who are able to speak on behalf of the whole scientific community and Italian academia." This is one of the reasons why GARR went on to facilitate the creation of the ICDI (Italian Computing and Data Infrastructure), a strategic coordination initiative.

The role of national initiatives

National initiatives have the opportunity to play a key role in the creation of EOSC, instead of simply accepting it as something designed by others. At the same time, featuring those who practice research in their daily lives, "They can represent the keystone for the involvement of scientific communities in different countries."

"It is fundamental to interact with different actors, and especially to coordinate transnationally and create a critical mass, a common agenda that can reinforce the position of member states in this process." concluded Galeazzi and Tanlongo, "This is what we are trying to contribute to as GARR and ICDI, first of all by collaborating with France, Austria, Belgium and Germany within the EOSC-Pillar project. [...] In the next three years, the project will work to strengthen our country's position in the EOSC and to seize its opportunities, also thanks to support and dissemination work towards researchers and other data producers and users."

You can read the full article in Italian at this link.